Thursday, July 22, 2010

Ergonomics (Product description and Idea Trigger)


This is a canned food opener. It is metallic thus having no colour except for the end of the handles, which is
black. It has a turn sign on the back of the opener. This product is to open canned food and can make work easier than opening the canned food by hand, which is almost impossible to do. Although this is a useful tool, it can be dangerous for the use of small children and old people as there are sharp edges and can injure the children or old people, thus it is not safety. As for the part of comfort, it is not comfortable at all as you will have to put in a lot of force in using it. They should decrease sharp edges to help decrease injuries, thus increasing in productivity. The appearance of this item is very nice.


















My new design. Has scissor-like handle thus could give us easier grip cause if the old one would slip easily when there is water in the person's hand.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Ergonomics 2

1. What is Ergonomics?
Ergonomics is concerned with the ‘fit’ between people and their technological tools and environments. It takes account of the user's capabilities and limitations in seeking to ensure that tasks, equipment, information and the environment suit each user.


2. What are the 5 aspects of Ergonomics?

The five aspects are safety, comfort, ease of use, productivity/performance and aesthetics. The first aspect is safety. Examples are like the medicine bottle and food items. It is to put letters and numbers bigger to help the elderly or people who have sight problems see better and not taking wrong medicine or wrong food. The second aspect is comfort. An example is the computer chair. The computer chair have to be comfortable to let us use the computer well and thus the computer chair should be let a sofa bed which is able to let us lie down and thus would be more comfortable. The third aspect, ease of use, is to let us use something easily. An example is to let different signs and signals in supermarkets and shopping malls stating that the different directions go to different places and make sure the signs will not be wrong like the signs are pointing up. The fourth productivity/performance is to let the work injuries decrease. The last is aesthetics. An example is signs in the workplace and can be more aesthetic  by using the same signage throughout the workplace.



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.

The first aspect is safety. Example like the medicine bottle and food items. It is to put letters and numbers bigger to help the elderly see better and not taking wrong medicine or wrong food. The second example is the comfort. An example is to make a wheelchair like a bed and thus being comfortable. The third example is ease of use. An example is to let different signs and signals in supermarkets and shopping malls stating that the different directions go to different places and make sure the signs will not be wrong like the signs are pointing up. The fourth is productivity/performance and an example is to decrease the sharpness of tables and chairs to help the elderly from injury people. The fifth aspect is the aesthetics. An example is to have the same signs in shopping malls to decrease confusing.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Ergonomics I

1. Compare the 2 different workplaces, state your observations.
The first workshop is very messy and not design in a proper ergonomics compared to the second workshop which is very tidy and design in a proper ergonomics

2. Which workplace is preferred? State with reasons why one workplace is preferred over the other.
The second workshop is preferred because it is neat and it fits the businessman workplace perfectly.

3. What are the considerations that should be taken into account when designing a workplace that is suitable for the user?
We should take the customers good posture and help them to make the workplace to be very spacious and have place for them to move around.

4. Why do you think that Ergonomics is important when designing?
Ergonomics is important because when designing a place for someone to work in, we have to help them maintain a good posture.