Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Ergonomics II

1. What is Ergonomics?

The scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance.

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2. What are the 5 aspects of Ergonomics?

They are safety, aesthetics, comfort, ease of use and productivity/performance.


3. For each aspects of Ergonomics, explain with an example of a product that is designed for the elderly, how the product meet that particular aspect of Ergonomics.


Comfort: E.g. Alarm clock display — some displays are harshly bright, drawing one’s eye to the light or keeping one awake when surroundings are dark. Ergonomic principles could redesign this based on contrast principles and include automatic dimming functions in low-light environments (such as when a user has turned off the room lights to sleep).


Ease of use: E.g. Street Signs — in an unfamiliar area, it can be quite difficult to spot street signs. This could be addressed by using principles of visual detection to make street signs more visible.


Productivity/performance: E.g. Office furniture/equipment — the use of ergonomically designed office furniture and equipment such as office chairs and computer input devices can drastically reduce work-related injuries and employee absences.


Aesthetics: E.g. Signs in the workplace — signage could be made more aesthetic by using a consistent format throughout the workplace.


Safety: E.g. Medicine bottles — print sizes could be enlarged so the elderly with impaired vision (due to sinus problems, for example) can more easily read the label instructions. Ergonomics can discover the optimum font style, color and size to enhance readability using the limited space available on a medicine label. This will prevent the elderly from taking the wrong medicine and becoming even more ill.


Acknowledgement:

http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Ergonomics

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