Ergonomics

=Exploring the user-product interface=

The origins of [|ergonomics] can be traced back to the necessity to rationalise sizes during the second world war.It would have been impossible to manufacture conscripts uniforms in traditional size varients, thus these were limited. Similarly today T shirts for example come in S/M/L/XL sizes. Tanks, planes, rifles, etc. had to be designed to fit the average size conscript and control layouts had to be layed out in such a way as they could be easily understood and comfortable in use. To achieve this much research was performed in the data collection and processing of the physical dimesions of conscripts, which again was the origins of the strand of ergonomics known as anthropometrics. Ergonomics is a huge, diverse subject and is defined as the "scientific discipline concerned with understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and method to design, in order to optimise human well-being and overall system performance" (IEA).

Try the following test to see how your anthropometrics vary... Grip-it ergomonic bag carrying tool