What does ergonomics mean in product design?

What does ergonomics mean in product design?

Ergonomics in product design means making sure the product fits the people who will be using it most effectively. The ergonomics of a product is crucial because if the product doesn’t fit your customer, so it doesn’t meet their needs, the product fails in its purpose.

It’s important to carry out research to collect data so you understand your customer’s needs. That way, you can ensure the product you create is the fitting size, shape and design for its intended purpose by your user.

What customer characteristics should you research in terms of ergonomics in product design?

  • how mobile they are
  • what training they might have had
  • culture
  • ability

These are just a few of the individual factors to consider when you’re implementing ergonomics in product design.

Areas of ergonomics

What are the physical and psychological ergonomics you need to think about? The below provides examples for a typical office worker.

Physical

  • the layout and size of the customer’s individual workspace
  • the customer’s posture they’ll need during product use, including manual handling
  • flow and movement of the customer’s team workspace

Psychological

  • stress levels 
  • interaction between human-computer
  • workload


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