Applying ergonomics to systems: Some documented “lessons learned”

Hendrick, Hal W.

doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2008.02.006

Cited by 108 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Though there is a considerable number of reports on the practice of ergonomics or usability in product development (e.g., Wiklund, 1994;Jordan et al, 1996;Lauesen, 1997;Väänänen-Vainio-Mattila and Ruuska, 2000;Bouwmeester and Stompff, 2006;Lee and Pan, 2007;Hendrick, 2008), a large part of this consists of descriptions of usability departments and development projects by usability specialists or designers employed by the company being described, and mostly studies are not anonymized. These are factors that may have lead to somewhat less critical descriptions in most insider accounts of human/user-centred design practice (Lindholm et al, 2003: p.vii;Steen, 2008: p.56).…”

Section: Studies Of Usability In Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

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Usability in product development practice; an exploratory case study comparing four markets

2015

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This study explored how usability was dealt with in four product development organizations active in different sectors: high-end automotive, professional printers and copiers, office coffee makers and fast moving consumer goods. The primary differentiators of the selected cases were whether they were targeting businesses or consumers and the degree of product complexity. Interviews with 19 product development practitioners were conducted, focusing on three topics: 1) the product development process and the integration of user involvement, 2) multidisciplinary teamwork, and 3) organizational attitude towards usability. Based on the interviews, context descriptions of the companies were created and barriers and enablers for usability were identified. To verify the findings and to discuss remaining issues a feedback workshop was held in which the primary contact from each company participated. The results indicate that differences in product-market combination lead to differences in organizational attitude towards usability. The prioritization of usability in an organization seems to be influenced by the degree of product complexity (complex products are more prone to suffer from usability issues) and whether developers think that usability is a purchase consideration for their clients. The product-market combination a company targets also affects the methods for user-centred design that a company can apply and that are relevant. What methods for user-centred design are used also seems to be influenced by the attitude towards usability: if usability is considered more important, methods that require more resources can be applied.

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Section: Studies Of Usability In Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…To be effective ergonomists need to not just be very capable at solving ergonomic challenges, but also need to engage in the organisational and strategic aspects of product development (Hendrick, 2008;Dul and Neumann, 2009;Theberge and Neumann, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Usability in product development practice; an exploratory case study comparing four markets

2015

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“…A recognized problem in work system design is the occurrence of ergonomics problems after implementation of system changes, resulting in resource demanding and cost full readjustments to comply with the problems (Hendrick 2008). One way of preventing the ergonomics problems already during the design process is to include the future workers in participatory ergonomics (PE) (Wilson et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Participatory ergonomics simulation of hospital work systems: The influence of simulation media on simulation outcome

Andersen

Broberg

2015

Applied Ergonomics

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Current application of work system simulation in participatory ergonomics (PE) design includes a variety of different simulation media. However, the actual influence of the media attributes on the simulation outcome has received less attention. This study investigates two simulation media: full-scale mock-ups and table-top models. The aim is to compare, how the media attributes of fidelity and affordance influence the ergonomics identification and evaluation in PE design of hospital work systems. The results illustrate, how the full-scale mock-ups' high fidelity of room layout and affordance of tool operation supports ergonomics identification and evaluation related to the work system entities space and technologies & tools. The table-top models' high fidelity of function relations and affordance of a helicopter view supports ergonomics identification and evaluation related to the entity organization. Furthermore, the study addresses the form of the identified and evaluated conditions, being ether identified challenges or tangible design criteria.

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“…However in addition to these psychosocial aspects, a comprehensive measure of job quality must also consider physical factors which can impact on health such as manual handling, exposure to hazardous substances, working hours, and environmental conditions. Ergonomics as a discipline is familiar with such a broad approach (Niu, 2010); and also with the importance of demonstrating that improved job quality can be a good business decision (Hendrick, 2008), so that its assessment is important for employers and governments as well as for employees.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring job quality: A study with bus drivers

Jones

Haslam

2014

Applied Ergonomics

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There is growing interest in the contribution which job design can make to worker health; also a desire to better understand the multidimensional notion of 'job quality' and to develop approaches to measuring this. This paper reviews concepts of 'job quality' and 'good jobs' and examines these issues in the work of bus drivers, an occupational group commonly reported as having poor health and poor working conditions. The DGB-Index, a tool used recently in Germany for measuring job quality, was translated and administered to a sample of UK bus drivers (n=381) and found that job quality was significantly lower than that for a group of non-drivers in the same organisation; and better than that for a sample of German bus drivers. We conclude that the DGB-Index is an effective tool for measuring job quality and providing feedback to employers, and could be used to compare job quality between organisations or internationally.

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Applying ergonomics to systems: Some documented “lessons learned”

Cited by 108 publications

References 4 publications

Usability in product development practice; an exploratory case study comparing four markets

Usability in product development practice; an exploratory case study comparing four markets

Participatory ergonomics simulation of hospital work systems: The influence of simulation media on simulation outcome

Measuring job quality: A study with bus drivers

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