How can you use ergonomics and human factors engineering to improve product usability and comfort?

1 Identify the user needs

The first step in using ergonomics and human factors engineering is to identify the user needs and requirements for the product or system you are designing or improving. You need to understand who the users are, what tasks they perform, what goals they have, what challenges they face, and what expectations they have. You can use various methods to collect and analyze user data, such as surveys, interviews, observations, focus groups, personas, scenarios, and task analysis.

2 Apply ergonomic principles and standards

Applying ergonomic principles and standards to your product or system design is the next step to guarantee that it meets user needs and requirements. These principles and standards are based on research and best practices that take into account physical, cognitive, emotional, and social aspects of human factors. Examples include designing for the user's anthropometry, posture, movement, and strength; perception, attention, memory, learning, and decision making; motivation, satisfaction, trust, and feedback; diversity, accessibility, and inclusivity; safety, health, and well-being.

3 Evaluate the design alternatives

The third step is to evaluate the design alternatives and compare their usability and comfort levels. You need to test and measure how well your product or system meets the user needs and requirements, and how it affects the user's well-being and performance. You can use various methods to evaluate your design alternatives, such as usability testing, heuristic evaluation, expert review, user feedback, and quantitative and qualitative metrics.

4 Implement the best design solution

The final step is to implement the best design solution based on your evaluation results and user feedback. You need to refine and optimize your product or system to ensure that it meets the user needs and requirements, and that it enhances the user's well-being and performance. You also need to document and communicate your design solution and its ergonomic and human factors aspects to the stakeholders, such as the manufacturers, suppliers, customers, and regulators.

By following these steps, you can use ergonomics and human factors engineering to improve product usability and comfort in your manufacturing engineering projects and outcomes. You can also benefit from increased user satisfaction, loyalty, and retention, as well as reduced errors, risks, and costs.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?