Ergonomics is…The science of matching things to people. 

1. Introduction
2. What does Ergonomics do?
3. Doing it...
    Don'ts
    Do's
   

Introduction

Things have always been made 'suitable' for people.  But as the world and its technologies have become more sophisticated, it has been found that for most products and environments, it pays to be precise about how things suit people.  It is the difference between taking a guess and taking a measurement. 

By adding objective data about people into the design process, a product or environment can be designed so that all its intended users are accommodated, not just those who resemble the designer! 

So ergonomics is about quality.  The fact that something can be used is not sufficient – it should be easy to use.  The fact that most people find it easy is not sufficient either – a large and known percentage of people should be able to use it easily.

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What does ergonomics do?

Ergonomics considers physical and mental aspects of people in relation to the things we make, so that people who use a design for the first time can be successful, and people who use it repeatedly find it easy and safe.   Although you might think that this is part of the designer’s job, in fact it quickly becomes almost impossible for insiders in a design project to tune in to the needs of a first-time user because, being expert, it’s hard to know what is and is not obvious to others. 

‘Things’ that can be improved by ergonomics are all those that people interact with, for example by touching or viewing.  These include most products and man-made environments, and range from nuclear power stations to light switches.  Some branches of ergonomics deal with systems like corporate structure and safety systems, while others deal with physiological aspects like human response to extreme climates.  So, like the term ‘designer’, an ‘ergonomist’ can be a generalist or a specialist, or some of each, and two different ergonomists might know quite different things.  The common factor is the bringing together of human characteristics with technology.

The outcome of ergonomics is generally one or more of:

·        User success

·        User satisfaction

·        Speed

·        Safety

·        Reliability

Most designers never get to see the difficulties ordinary people have with their designs, and even when problems are observed they are often explained away as ‘human error’.  But ergonomics holds that human error doesn’t exist – it’s always design error because it’s up to the design to take account of the way people are, fallibility and all.

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Doing it…

Most ergonomics projects include a mixture of theory and experimentation.  If you want to add existing ergonomics knowledge to your project then one of these books may be what you need.  Either way, if you’re designing or specifying a product or environment, you can use this Do’s and Don’ts list as a guide:

DON’T

1.       Don’t think about ‘most people’ or ‘the average’ since that will lead to low standards.

2.       Don’t speculate.  Nearly all of us speculate routinely without even realising.  Try to recognise when you don’t know something about the people you are designing for.

3.       Don’t design for yourself.  Use objective data about people.

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DO

1.       Decide who is going to use the design – age, sex, knowledge, eyesight, reach, strength etc.  Consider what human attributes will affect the interactions with the design.

2.       Focus on how different the worst-case users are from you.

3.       Make explicit what users’ goals will be as they use the design, and what will constitute success.  Set a measurable criterion, such as ‘90% of users will get their money within 2 minutes’.

4.       Consider what happens to people who are outside the formal design range.  Revise the design range if necessary.  For example, if 5% of users are a bit uncomfortable that may be OK.  If 1% of users complain then the design will be a failure.  If .01% of people get hurt it will be a disaster.

5.       Work out what users will need to know before they can complete the tasks, and consider what ordinary users will need to learn before or during their interaction with your design.  Build that learning into the product, or design out the need for it.  Don’t rely on paper instructions, they are too often ignored.

6.       Take account of stress and competing demands on the user’s attention.  Try to be realistic about the time that users will give to learning about the design or reading labels.  Even low levels of stress can degrade human performance to very poor levels.

7.       Be honest about what you don’t know in the first six questions, and then find out!  If you’re going to guess, write down ‘ I don’t know this, but I’m assuming that 95% of users will stop and read the instructions’ (and in that particular case, you would be wrong!).

8.       Create a mockup or prototype, and run trials with volunteers.  This can be a fitting trial or a usability trial, or first one then the other. It will seem like a lot of trouble but it is always worth it.  You always learn from trialling a new design, even if you are convinced it’s perfect already.  Do this before you cement too much of the design in place.  Resist the temptation to coach your volunteers, and be very clear that all the difficulties they have are your responsibility not their stupidity.  Pin your ego to the final design if you like, but not to the trial prototype!  User trials are a learning experience, and not often a gratifying one.

9.       Include the ergonomics data with the product specification.

10.   If, in your career, your design is valuable and needs good ergonomics quality, use a professional ergonomist.  It can be hard to share a design but the result will be better.

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