Objectives 1) To assess whether Front-of-Pack (FOP) nutrition labels garner attention more readily than more complete, mandated nutrition information (the Nutrition Facts Panel (NFP), required in the US), and 2) To determine whether label design characteristics, specifically, color coding and/or coding with facial icons, increase attention to the FOP label. Methods In two experiments, we tracked the allocation of attention while participants (n=125) viewed novel and commercial packages with varied FOP designs using a change detection methodology. Results We found empirical evidence that FOP labels are attended more often, and earlier, than the currently mandated NFP, and that this benefit is due both to its placement on the front of the package and to the design characteristics of the FOP. Specifically, the use of color in FOPs increased attention to the label, but there was no evidence that coding information via facial icons impacted attention. Conclusions Our work supports a growing body of evidence supporting the use of FOP labels to attract attention to nutritional information. Findings may be relevant to inform policy decisions on labeling standards.

Research on the ways older people use prescription medications (Rx) is a mainstay of the gerontological literature because use of Rx medications is common, and appropriate use is central to effective management of chronic disease. But older adults are also major consumers of over-the-counter (OTC) medications, which can be equally significant for self-care. Nearly half of older adults aged 75-85, for example, are regular users of an OTC product. Ensuring that consumers safely and effectively use OTC products is critical in order to minimize potential drug-drug interactions and unintentional misuse. Yet we know surprisingly little about the ways older adults select OTC medications and decide when to start or stop use, how older people actually take these medications, or how involved clinicians and family members are in older adult OTC behavior. Research in this area is critical for developing interventions to help ensure safe and appropriate OTC use. For this reason, The Gerontological Society of America (GSA), in partnership with the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), convened a summit of experts to set an agenda for research in OTC behaviors among older adults. The panel suggested a need for research in 5 key areas: Health literacy and OTC behavior, decision making and OTC use, the role of clinicians in OTC medication behavior, older adult OTC behavior and family care, and technologies to promote optimal use of OTC medications.

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BackgroundFront of pack (FOP) nutrition labels are concise labels located on the front of food packages that provide truncated nutrition information. These labels are rapidly gaining prominence worldwide, presumably because they attract attention and their simplified formats enable rapid comparisons of nutritional value.MethodsEye tracking was conducted as US consumers interacted with actual packages with and without FOP labels to (1) assess if the presence of an FOP label increases attention to nutrition information when viewers are not specifically tasked with nutrition-related goals; and (2) study the effect of FOP presence on consumer use of more comprehensive, traditional nutrition information presented in the Nutritional Facts Panel (NFP), a mandatory label for most packaged foods in the US.ResultsOur results indicate that colored FOP labels enhanced the probability that any nutrition information was attended, and resulted in faster detection and longer viewing of nutrition information. However, for cereal packages, these benefits were at the expense of attention to the more comprehensive NFP. Our results are consistent with a potential short cut effect of FOP labels, such that if an FOP was present, participants spent less time attending the more comprehensive NFP. For crackers, FOP labels increased time spent attending to nutrition information, but we found no evidence that their presence reduced the time spent on the nutrition information in the NFP.ConclusionsThe finding that FOP labels increased attention to overall nutrition information by people who did not have an explicit nutritional goal suggests that these labels may have an advantage in conveying nutrition information to a wide segment of the population. However, for some food types this benefit may come with a short-cut effect; that is, decreased attention to more comprehensive nutrition information. These results have implications for policy and warrant further research into the mechanisms by which FOP labels impact use of nutrition information by consumers for different foods.

SUMMARYThe ease with which a container can be accessed or its 'openability' is becoming more of an issue for manufacturers and consumers as the average age of the population increases. Ageing brings with it a range of issues including a loss of strength and reduced dexterity. This paper aimed to look at the relationship between diameter, torque and age for standard consumer closures using a torque-measuring device.The results of the investigation show that larger-diameter jars (85 mm) require much higher opening forces than smaller ones (75 mm and below). Smaller jars require lower opening torques, although the force required to open many jars is still higher than many elderly people are able to generate.

The term affordance describes an object's utilitarian function or actionable possibilities. Product designers have taken great interest in the concept of affordances because of the bridge they provide relating to design, the interpretation of design and, ultimately, functionality in the hands of consumers. These concepts have been widely studied and applied in the field of psychology but have had limited formal application to packaging design and evaluation. We believe that the concepts related to affordances will reveal novel opportunities for packaging innovation. To catalyse this, presented work had the following objectives: (a) to propose a method by which packaging designers can purposefully consider affordances during the design process; (b) to explain this method in the context of a packaging-related case study; and (c) to measure the effect on package usability when an affordance-based design approach is employed. INTRODUCTIONFrom purchasing to disposal, human-package interactions are comprised of several steps that need to be accomplished in order to achieve varied goals. Optimal package designs inspire an immediate understanding of use, opening (where and how), proper and accurate dispensing, reclosure and disposal. This is particularly important for novel or unfamiliar packaging.1 By definition, semantic issues, how users understand the meanings of a package, precede ergonomic issues, how users operate it. 2 de la Fuente and Bix proposed a conceptual model to organize and analyse the complexities of human-package interactions. This model incorporates the four classical components of usability (i.e. user, pack, context and task) and recognizes the need to engage three user systems: the perceptual system, the cognitive system and the motor system. Our review of the literature regarding packaging usability suggests a lack of systematic research investigating perception and cognition as it relates to packaging use.3 Further, it revealed that research is lacking in many of the distinct tasks performed with packages, with the vast majority concentrating on opening tasks, particularly emphasizing jars and bottles, and the physical actions (motor system) required to successfully achieve such tasks.Aspects of user's perception and understanding of products have been addressed from a variety of fields such as psychology and product design. In the late seventies, the perceptual psychologist James Gibson revolutionized the field of visual perception by proposing that objects in the environment have functional meaning to an observer. Gibson invented the word affordance to describe any object's utilitarian function, defining affordances as relationships between the 'world and actors' (i.e. person or animal). Under Gibson's archetype affordances are all the 'action possibilities' latent in the environment independent of an individual's ability to recognize them. 4,5 Within this frame, the design features of an item, such as the pull tab of a can, have the potential to catalyse actions in the user (e.g. can opening)...

This study demonstrated that occupational therapy students can be reliable raters after being trained and tested for competency. To improve psychometric properties for instruments commonly used in the profession, students can participate in collecting normative data for hand-held dynamometry.

Research has documented the drastic reduction of unintentional poisonings of children since the introduction of child resistant (CR) packaging. However, studies also indicate that consumers report difficulty using CR packages, in part because tests which determine the Ôsenior friendlinessÕ of CR designs that are used throughout the world disallow people with Ôovert or obviousÕ disabilities from being test subjects. Our review of drug package usability suggests that the current tests of CR packaging can and should be revised to correct this problem. We use US legislation, regulation and data to exemplify these points, but the conclusions are applicable to all protocols that include the exclusionary provision.