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[Music]
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ergonomics is much broader than just the
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right chair to sit on ergonomics is
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concerned with the interaction between
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people and the products and systems that
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they use ergonomics is making sure that
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products are appropriate for people
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all around us we see things that people
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have designed to make our life simpler
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more productive more
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comfortable and yet sometimes we find
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ourselves complaining about things like
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the microwave that's difficult to figure
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out the shears that are hard to cut with
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hell are you or the seat that doesn't
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fit our
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bodies ergonomics aims to solve these
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kinds of
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problems named after the Greek word Ergo
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and nomos meaning the natural laws of
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work ergonomics is about matching
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products and tasks with
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people ergonomics is a relatively New
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Concept in the early days of
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industrialization getting the job done
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was more important than the well-being
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of the
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worker around the 1940s people began to
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realize that work could be done more
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efficiently if the equipment was easier
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and saf safer to use the science of
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ergonomics was
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[Music]
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born a key part of ergonomics is the
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usability of the systems we use so when
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we come up to a product or system we
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need to know what to do we need to know
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that it fits us physically and we
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efficiently get the results we want
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ergonomist will configure the whole
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system so it works for the range of
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people that are going to use it whether
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they're children adults whomever
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[Music]
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many gadgets and appliances have an
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impressive array of features but they
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can be difficult to figure out even if
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you still have the instruction
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manual this is frustrating and it means
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that many features are wasted because
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the user sticks to the simplest tasks
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to make things understandable we need to
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consider the way people think and
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interpret the
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information this can be as simple as
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using red for stop and green for go
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because that's what people are used
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to it also means designing so that
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people can do the
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obvious this video camera lets us do
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what comes naturally so it requires no
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detailed
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instructions in this design the places
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you might want to push to close the
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camera are marked with warnings to the
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contrary the right place to push is even
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hidden under the
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strap so layout is another important
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factor on this stove it's fairly simple
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to relate the layout of the controls to
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the layout of the hot plates
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[Music]
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here the layout of the controls is
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oriented differently to the hot
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plates we have to look more carefully to
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see which goes with
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[Music]
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which in the control room of a power
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plant or on the bridge of a container
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ship there's simply no room for
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confusion the signals and warnings must
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be easy to see and interpret or the
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consequences could be
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[Music]
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disastrous come
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on
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sit good boy it's your turn to feed the
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dog lucky for him your hands are the
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right size for the handle on the can
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opener and you're strong enough to twist
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the knob
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[Music]
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but if it was your little sister's
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turn or your
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[Music]
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granddad's the dog may well be hoping
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for the day that you're back on the
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roster the physical fit between us and
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our man-made environment affects us all
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the
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time how well do our clothes fit the
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size and shape of our bodies
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how comfortable is our
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furniture why are some things easier to
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grip and handle than
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[Music]
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others how well do we fit into our
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workspaces are we working at a
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comfortable height
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can we reach the controls on the
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Machinery are they easy to push and
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turn and can we see what we're
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doing if our equipment doesn't cater for
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our physical
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requirements even something as simple as
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adjusting a car radio can be a difficult
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and dangerous task
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[Music]
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in order to match people physically with
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the products and work systems they use
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we need information about people's
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characteristics this information comes
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from the field of
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anthropometry the word
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anthropometry comes from the Greek words
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anthropo and metrios meaning the
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measurement of humans
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ergonomics texts like this one contain
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anthropometric tables that describe the
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size of different parts of our
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[Music]
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bodies we might be interested in height
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if we're designing a doorway we might be
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interested in reach if we're designing a
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shelf
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depth humans come in a range of shapes
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and sizes so the anthropometric T
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provide data for the small people in a
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group known as The Fifth
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percentile the center of the range or
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the 50th
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percentile and the larger end of the
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scale or the 95th
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percentile if we're designing a doorway
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we need to know the very big person if
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we're designing how deep a shelf is we
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probably want to know what the reach is
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of the very small person
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but it isn't always that simple to
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design a seat that suits most people we
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need to consider the lower leg length of
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smaller people for the seat
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height and the hip breadth of larger
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people for the seat
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width now what about the
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table if we make it too high most people
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have to raise their forearms and arch
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their wrists in order to reach their
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plate
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so here we need to match seat height
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table height and the sitting height of
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the
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user factors such as age gender and even
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ethnic background influence the size of
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our
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bodies so when we're using
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anthropometric data we need to take into
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account the population we're designing
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for
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[Music]
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[Music]
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whenever we handle objects or equipment
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we need to use a certain amount of
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force to find out how much force people
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can comfortably exert in different
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situations designers need information
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about the biomechanics of the human
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[Music]
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body say we're designing a pedal
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mechanism we need data that tell us how
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hard people can push with their legs at
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different
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angles for a knob or handle we can look
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up how people's turning strength is
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affected by the handle
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diameter the handles on tools are
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designed to be used with a neutral wrist
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position as shown here because this
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gives us maximum grip strength and
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comfort but even the best designs can't
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compensate for the way people use a
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product these awkward postures reduce
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our strength and increase the risk of
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injury this is a healthy sitting posture
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in which our spine forms an s-shaped
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[Music]
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curve often we slump into a c shape
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because this is easier than sitting up
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straight
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this puts unhealthy pressure on the
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vertebrae and our
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spine but even if we are conscious of
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our posture we eventually get tired this
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is because the human body is not
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designed for maintaining a fixed
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position or for performing repetitive
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tasks the way to overcome this problem
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is by taking regular breaks
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[Applause]
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so ergonomics Can Depend as much on the
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attitude of the user as on the skills of
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the
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[Music]
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designer in designing new products we
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need to use ergonomics to make sure we
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get the right result that we get
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products and systems that work for
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people in the way they expect and of
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course there are other constraints that
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we have to work with when we're
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designing new products the product we're
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going to use will be have to be
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manufactured at a certain cost and use
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certain processes and
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materials the designer's role is to
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balance all these requirements out but
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the key thing is to keep incorporating
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the ergonomic information aspects of the
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design that are important for people and
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the way they'll use the product
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[Music]
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these products look fairly simple but
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they pose quite a challenge in terms of
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ergonomic design because they have to
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suit many different
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people this is more than just a can
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opener this is part of a food storage
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and preparation system the range of
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people that might use a can opener can
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be very broad the question is can one
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solution that's not a adjustable fit
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every situation and do the best job
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possible this model is familiar to many
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people but it requires considerable
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strength on the handle to grip and
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puncture the
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can and strength in the fingers to drag
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the blade through the
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metal but how much strength can we
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expect the user to
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have the source of that information
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might be a Data Book like this body
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space here will tell us something about
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grip strength so ergonomists have done
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research about the strength of people
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gripping things but what
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about that twisting action I'm not aware
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of anthropometric data or or ergonomics
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data that will give us that information
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about how hard people can twist a wing
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nut like this for this we might have to
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do some testing people who've done this
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have come up with alternatives to
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this this model has large handles that
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are easier to grip and a gear system and
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rotary blade that cuts the can more
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[Music]
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easily that means a bigger range of
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people can do the job that's design
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that's good
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design now what about understandability
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here's another similar can opener we'll
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have the black and the white same sort
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of product same configuration nicely
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styled there been a designer involved
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here if I try to use this can opener in
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the same way I would expect to use this
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one one I'll be making a mistake I'll
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get frustrated and I won't get the can
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open because it operates a different
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way in this case the packaging is also
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providing some information that's going
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to be useful to the user the package
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also carries a warning because this can
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opener removes the whole lid leaving a
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sharp edge that's not immediately
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obvious one has to ask though what
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happens when the pack packag is thrown
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away and we're just left with this in
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the top drawer of the
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kitchen adjustability is often used by
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designers to allow us to cope better
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with the range of users we're trying to
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um design
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for this is more important in some
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situations than
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others if we're traveling on a train
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we're only doing that for a short length
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of time so the adjustability of the seat
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is not that Critical with office chairs
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which we're using for up to 8 hours a
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day for every day of the week then we
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need to consider adjustability as a
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solution to the problem also in offices
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people change workstations quite
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regularly so the one set of furniture
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might be used by many
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people if the height of the desk is
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fixed and usually it is we need to
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adjust the seat height to suit the
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height of the work surface
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if we're typing we need an angle of
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around 90° at the elbow the most
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comfortable position for our
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forearms if this seat height is too high
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for our lower leg we can tilt the seat
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forward to relieve pressure under our
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thighs and if we're still not
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comfortable we can use a footrest to
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adjust the height of the floor
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[Music]
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it's also useful to have an adjustable
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back
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rest correctly positioned the back rest
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helps us to maintain a healthy spinal
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curve when we lean back in the
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seat by introducing extra components
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adjustability often increases
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cost in this luxury car the
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electronically controlled driver's seat
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and steering column can be adjusted in
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various ways
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notice how the layout of the controls
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also makes them easy to
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understand and for the ultimate
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inconvenience different users can set
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their favorite
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[Music]
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position these features make for a
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comfortable ride but they come with a
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hefty price tag
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[Music]
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in the sporting Arena the way we fit
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with our equipment can mean the
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difference between winning and
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losing this was the inspiration for a
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new type of cycle shoe designed by
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former triathlete Ian
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Barrel the IDE behind this project was
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to have a look at the task of triathlon
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um in particular the transition system
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between swimming and the ride
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[Music]
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leg many triathletes choose to have
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their cycle shoes pre- clipped onto
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their
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bikes but with the current shoe design
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it's very difficult to get your foot
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into the shoe quickly while are trying
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to
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race Ian talked to Tri athletes about
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this
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problem the most important finding was
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that the Chee has to be easy to close
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when you come out of the transition
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system you're tired because you've been
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swimming when you're tired you don't
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think is straight the task of doing up
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the velcro strap putting foot in becomes
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much harder than you think it should
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be Ian then came up with several
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alternative design options
00:18:02
this is a prototype of the design that
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offered the best combination of
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ergonomics manufacturability and
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high-tech good
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looks as per the current Chon system the
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shoe is pre- clipped onto the bike pedal
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the difference in this system is that
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you can put your foot straight in the
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shoe as it hangs like this quite an easy
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task the way this is possible is through
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these cables they enable a huge opening
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to allow for the person to put their
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foot in basically without looking then
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once the foot is in the shoe it's just a
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simple case of pulling this
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lever and the whole upper of the shoe
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claps the foot and is tightly set
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in importantly you can hear and feel the
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lever click into its home position so
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you know when the shoe is
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secure and another issue is one of fit
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in doing up the velcro strap Riders can
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make their shoes too tight or too
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loose this creates discomfort which can
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slow the Riders
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down with this shoe it contains three
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vro straps Before the Race you put your
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foot in the shoe you doop the three
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straps the exact tension that you
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require and then when you do shoe up in
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the race it'll close to that exact
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tension Ian's shoe certainly looks like
00:19:30
a promising
00:19:31
solution now he faces the challenge of
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finding a backer who will help take his
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design from prototype to product
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[Music]
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a
00:20:00
[Music]
00:20:18
[Music]
