基于功能面的产品布局与人机工程协同设计的研究

在产品概念设计中,布局设计和人机工程设计是两个相互影响和制约的设计过程,。为了将这种布局设计和人机工程设计协同起来,将功能面作为概念设计发解的依据,并在此基础上提出了基于功能面的协同概念设计过程和方法,以及布局设施 人机工程协同设计模型和形式化描述方法,最后结合摩托车的概念设计实例给出了一个计算机支持的布局和人机工程协同设计系统的实现方案。     

基于人机工程学的产品创新设计研究——过程分析法的应用

产品创新需要创新的构思方法,对于许多工业设计师来说,真正有意义和现实的创新构思过程是运用科学方法,一步一步展开构思的过程。产品创新设计的真正挑战是满足用户的现实需求和潜在需求,因此如何满足人们的需求才是创新设计的重中之重。绝大多数的产品都必须通过人的操作才能达到为人服务的目的。因此,产品必须围绕人的操作和使用方式来进行创新设计。过程分析法正是通过对人机工程学的进一步探讨和具体化,分别从人机分工、人机界面和人—机—环境之间的关系来进行分析,利用理性的思维方式,明确产品的定位,充分考虑各个方面的因素,提示思考,将人机工程学的思想融入产品创新设计过程,拓展思路。     

Finite element human hand model: Validation and ergonomic considerations

Established ergonomic practices incorporate only limited user data while designing new handheld products and hand tools. Design of handheld products and their handles relies mostly on ergonomic recommendations and designer experiences. Measurements of quantitative variables such as contact area, pressure, stresses, strains, etc. on hands using traditional methods are not possible or are time consuming, require a product prototype and expensive measurement systems. Therefore, companies do not incorporate these data in the product development, which could improve ergonomics further. To overcome this, we present a viable option of development and utilization of a finite element human hand model which allows grasping of products inside a virtual environment and provides quantitative results. The finite element human hand model is constructed based on medical images of a real human hand, with boundary conditions resembling the actual anatomical and topological features, which makes the model numerically feasible and biomechanically accurate. Results in terms of movement and grasping simulations of the finite element digital human hand model are presented with a discussion of the utilization of these results in the ergonomic design process.     

Integrating ergonomics and engineering in the technical design process

Leyland DAF and the University of Nottingham collaborated in establishing an ergonomics team to support the truck design and development process in the company. The project was planned within the framework of a Teaching Company Scheme funded jointly by Leyland DAF and the UK government. This framework provided a training environment in which the team, which was formed of young professional ergonomists and engineers, could quickly acquire the specialist skills needed for work in the automotive industry in addition to gaining practical experience in applying ergonomics, and the programme was structured to promote the integration of ergonomics and engineering considerations within the technical design process. The experience gained in this project has shown the benefits of such an approach to implementing ergonomics in product design, and provided an insight into the ways in which ergonomists and designers can communicate more effectively in a manufacturing organization.     

User‐Centric Service Map for Identifying New Service Opportunities from Potential Needs: A Case of App Store Applications

Today, service innovation is just as important as product innovation. The ideation of service innovation, vis‐à‐vis product innovation, is user‐oriented, rather than maker‐oriented. Thus, capturing and understanding user context is key to being able to offer personalized and relevant services, and further identify new service opportunities. Therefore, a user‐centric approach is needed in new service development, especially in the era of ubiquitous service. There exists a rich literature on how to incorporate customers into new service development, but most has focused only on their expressed needs, and failed to identify potential needs. In response, this paper proposes a ‘user‐centric service map’, which first visualizes the portfolio of existing services based on the dictionary of potential needs and then helps to investigate vacuums that can provide a concrete shape for new service opportunities. The suggested approach is composed of three parts: first, constructing a potential needs dictionary, second, developing a service map, and finally, identifying new service opportunities. A case study of Apple's App Store services is conducted to verify the feasibility and utility of the proposed approach and offer strategic implications.     

Enhanced ergonomics approaches for product design: a user experience ecosystem perspective and case studies

This paper first discusses the major inefficiencies faced in current human factors and ergonomics (HFE) approaches: (1) delivering an optimal end-to-end user experience (UX) to users of a solution across its solution lifecycle stages; (2) strategically influencing the product business and technology capability roadmaps from a UX perspective and (3) proactively identifying new market opportunities and influencing the platform architecture capabilities on which the UX of end products relies. In response to these challenges, three case studies are presented to demonstrate how enhanced ergonomics design approaches have effectively addressed the challenges faced in current HFE approaches. Then, the enhanced ergonomics design approaches are conceptualised by a user-experience ecosystem (UXE) framework, from a UX ecosystem perspective. Finally, evidence supporting the UXE, the advantage and the formalised process for executing UXE and methodological considerations are discussed.

Practitioner Summary: This paper presents enhanced ergonomics approaches to product design via three case studies to effectively address current HFE challenges by leveraging a systematic end-to-end UX approach, UX roadmaps and emerging UX associated with prioritised user needs and usages. Thus, HFE professionals can be more strategic, creative and influential.     

Medical device development: the challenge for ergonomics

High quality, well-designed medical devices are necessary to provide safe and effective clinical care for patients as well as to ensure the health and safety of professional and lay device users. Capturing the user requirements of users and incorporating these into design is an essential component of this. The field of ergonomics has an opportunity to assist, not only with this area, but also to encourage a more general consideration of the user during medical device development. A review of the literature on methods for assessing user requirements in engineering and ergonomics found that little published work exists on the ergonomic aspects of medical device development. In particular there is little advice available to developers on which issues to consider during design and development or recommendations for good practice in terms of the methods and approaches needed to capture the full range of user requirements. The Multidisciplinary Assessment of Technology Centre for Health care (MATCH) is a research collaboration that is working in conjunction with industrial collaborators to apply ergonomics methods to real case study projects with the ultimate aim of producing an industry-focused guide to applying ergonomics principles in medical device development.     

Action research in user-centred product development

Technological development and increased international competition have imposed a significant burden on the product development function of many companies. The growing complexity of products demands a larger product development team with people having various competencies. Simultaneously the importance of good quality, usability and customisation of products is growing, and many companies want to involve customers and users directly in the development work. Both the complexity and quality demand new ways of working that support collaboration between people with various competencies, interests and responsibilities both inside and outside the company. This paper reports experiences from using action research to introduce new user-centred work practices in two commercial product development projects. The interventions varied. In the first project it was found rewarding to engage customers and users in workshops based on participatory inquiry and collaborative design. The design process was iterative and the workshops took place several times involving concept through detailed design. In the second project, new design representations are introduced. The experiences highlight the importance of creating and reifying insights in design representations and using these to both support collaboration, and create continuity in the project. The paper ends with a discussion of scientific rigor in action research and what the new work practices imply for the development team.     

Developing human factors/ergonomics as a design discipline

This paper deals with internal challenges that the human factors/ergonomics (HFE) research faces when wishing to strengthen its contribution to development of work systems. Three established characteristics of high-quality HFE, i.e., HFE takes a systems approach, HFE is design-driven, and HFE focuses on two closely related outcomes, performance and well-being, are taken as a starting point of a methodological discussion, in which conceptual innovations, e.g. adopting the technology-in-use perspective, are proposed to support development of HFE towards the high-quality aims. The feasibility of the proposed conceptual choices is demonstrated by introducing a naturalistic HFE analysis approach including four HFE functions. The gained experience of the use of this approach in a number of complex work domains allows the conclusion that becoming design-driven appears as that most difficult quality target for HFE to reach. Creating an own design discipline identity in a multi-voiced collaboration is the key internal challenge for human factors/ergonomics.     

Ergonomics capability in product design and development: an organizational analysis

This paper suggests that the emergence and development of ergonomics capability in product design and development can be understood as a dynamic process of innovation, which is shaped by a combination of forces both internal and external to an organization. The comparative case study method was used to focus on six organizations (three pairs) operating from a manufacturing base in New Zealand. Data were collected from in-depth interviews, documents, archival sources and through observation. A framework for understanding the emergence and development of ergonomics capability in product design and development is presented. While ergonomics capability is a core concept in the model, four other major elements are identified. These are staffing routines, top management orientation, organizational configuration, and the external environment.     

Eine Werkbank für den Zuschnitt von objektorientierten Softwareprozessen

In software industry there is a controversial discussion on the usefulness of a unified software process. The contribution presents a pragmatic solution. A generic process framework can be tailored to the needs of an individual development project with the help of a software process workbench. The core functionalities of the software process workbench, which is currently under development, are presented. First experiences from the user community and their influence on the next development stage of the workbench are discussed.     

Fitting methods to paradigms: are ergonomics methods fit for systems thinking?

Abstract

The issues being tackled within ergonomics problem spaces are shifting. Although existing paradigms appear relevant for modern day systems, it is worth questioning whether our methods are. This paper asks whether the complexities of systems thinking, a currently ubiquitous ergonomics paradigm, are outpacing the capabilities of our methodological toolkit. This is achieved through examining the contemporary ergonomics problem space and the extent to which ergonomics methods can meet the challenges posed. Specifically, five key areas within the ergonomics paradigm of systems thinking are focused on: normal performance as a cause of accidents, accident prediction, system migration, systems concepts and ergonomics in design. The methods available for pursuing each line of inquiry are discussed, along with their ability to respond to key requirements. In doing so, a series of new methodological requirements and capabilities are identified. It is argued that further methodological development is required to provide researchers and practitioners with appropriate tools to explore both contemporary and future problems.

Practitioner Summary: Ergonomics methods are the cornerstone of our discipline. This paper examines whether our current methodological toolkit is fit for purpose given the changing nature of ergonomics problems. The findings provide key research and practice requirements for methodological development.     

The good enough revolution—the role of aesthetics in user experiences with digital artefacts

Technological development takes place at a rapid pace, and in recent years it has led to a growing output of artefacts and services with digital content, where availability and low price seem to be the main parameters for success. This trend has been labelled the ‘good enough’ revolution and has highlighted contemporary parameters for technological development. The present article presents this trend as a design movement that is characterised by introducing a new functionalism and challenging common perceptions that have emerged as a result of the twentieth-century design story about ‘high quality’ and ‘added value’ in product development. In addition, the article introduces the concept of aesthetics as the basis for a discussion about user experiences in contemporary digital artefacts, and argues that the good enough movement calls for a new understanding of aesthetics that springs from the role of digital artefacts in the user's social life and plays a role in relation to technologically oriented design development.     

Managing Sustainable Innovation with a User Community Toolkit: The Case of the Video Game Trackmania

Today, innovating with a user community seems an effective strategy for developing a firm's innovation capacity. However, short‐term benefits from this collaboration are no longer sufficient, and firms are now looking to develop a sustainable relationship with users, to maintain sustainable innovation. This study furthers our understanding of the way in which a user toolkit connected to a community serves to manage innovation of an existing product or service. The literature provides a limited understanding of the role of a user toolkit in the management of a sustainable innovation approach in firms. The research is based on a longitudinal case study of the video game Trackmania, which has an integrated toolkit connected to a large and active user community. Results confirm the crucial role of the toolkit in the construction, control and maintenance of a sustainable innovative approach with a user community. From the innovation perspective, the toolkit can be considered as a means of managing the boundary between the firm and the user community, because it enables the community to structure itself as a multi‐sided platform, where all categories of users participate in value creation. Finally, we identify four modalities for managing sustainable innovation with a user community toolkit.     

Ergonomics aspects of crop production in tropical developing countries: a literature review

Little is known about the extent to which ergonomics factors limit manual crop production operations in developing countries. This paper presents the findings of a review of the ergonomics literature, performed to identify and quantify such constraints in the tropics. Most of the literature reviewed reported studies of land preparation and weeding tasks. The practical application of the data from many of the studies was found to be limited. However, there was sufficient evidence to show that the use of different handtools to carry out a given task could influence the physiological cost incurred by the user, and that some tools performed more effectively than others in the completion of that task. This indicates that the application of ergonomics principles has the potential to relieve at least some of the drudgery associated with agricultural tasks carried out by resource-poor farmers in the tropics. The review highlights the need for a more comprehensive methodological and participative approach, and outlines a number of issues to be addressed in future research.     

产品创新中的人性化设计与个性化设计

文章通过论述产品创新中人性化设计的发展与定位,个性化设计由人性化设计开始及个性化设计可行性以及实现途径,说明创新设计的过程不仅仅是设计师借助技术和发挥想象力的过程,还是设计师与使用者不断沟通表达消费者需求的过程。设计师要充分考虑产品的使用群体的审美心理因素,满足用户的物质与精神需求,并在此前提下将个性和风格融入进去,为产品创新设计起到指导作用,从而提高产品吸引力和企业核心竞争力。