Interview with Gert Hanner

The designer Gert Hanner has been working for Avalon Enterprise since 2001 and is in charge of the industrial design department. Avalon Enterprise has already received many accolades for the outstanding design and innovative power of its products. Now the BD Venflon Pro Safety catheter designed by Gert Hanner has convinced the jury of this year’s “red dot award: product design” and received the “red dot: best of the best”. Gert Hanner talked about the catheter’s design characteristics and his design philosophy in an interview with red dot.

What applications does the BD Venflon Pro Safety catheter allow?

Gert Hanner: The BD Venflon Pro Safety catheter, launched in 2007, meets the unique needs of clinicians by providing both enhanced needle stick safety and reduced blood exposure.

What were the essential criteria for the final design?

Gert Hanner: The essential criterion was to create a new ported safety intravenous catheter to provide protection for healthcare workers against needle sticks and unanticipated blood exposure. To fulfil both functions a significant change of the current product ergonomics and design was required. With more than 20 years of use, the current product has generated several habits. The secondary criterion was to develop a new grip ergonomics enabling users to intuitively transition from the current behaviour to using the new design.

Did the exchange of experience and knowledge with nurses and doctors play a role in the development of this catheter?

Gert Hanner: It was absolutely essential for achieving the end result to listen to a large number of customers and to accompany healthcare professionals in their daily work. This was done to identify the users’ habits and needs. I am personally stunned over the healthcare professionals’ work conditions and full of admiration for the job they perform in their stressful environment. I have seen them several times providing very complex treatments which would normally require more than two hands but they succeed with the greatest precision and confidence.

What design philosophy do you follow when creating a product?

Gert Hanner: I always try to follow my primary instincts when it comes to deciding what’s required or just wanted. It’s a matter of wearing the hat of all various users. The certainty comes when all facts have been established and the necessary “homework” is made. For me, this creates the “boundaries of awareness”. It’s the exact mould for the actual conversion of functions into beautifully and human friendly shapes.