Who knows how to work the DVD player in your house?

What information do they need to get it working? Do they read the instruction manual or just work it out from the machine itself? How easy is it to work out what the buttons do? 

Come and test the buttons on our machines and see which types of design make it easier for people to use them. Can you design a better button?

A delegation of chi+med scientists, some microwaves, popping corn (in three different flavours!), clock radios and packs of playing cards will be appearing at Hove Park Upper School tomorrow (Sunday 12 February 2012) from 10 to 5pm.

We'll be showing off some card tricks, road testing clock radios (how many buttons do you have to press to set the alarm?) and racing microwaves (whose popcorn will pop first?).

Devices like these use buttons with brief instructions on them - they might be a word or a picture. But are they easy to understand and do they help you use the machine, or just confuse you? 

Picture credit: Dr Dominic Furniss

Doctors and nurses also use machines to give medicines to their patients. Sometimes they need to give information to the machine (for example telling it how much drug to give) and sometimes they need to get information from the machine (for example finding out how long the machine's battery is going to last).

Come and see if you can learn and understand the pictures that doctors and nurses might see on the medical devices they use - and enter our competition to see if you can design a better picture (the winner will be sent a £10 Amazon voucher).