Can design supportive research be scientific?
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Ergonomics↗
Biomedical subjects
H Kanis
Publications and source records attributed to H Kanis.
Risk perception in consumer product use.
In the literature, at least two distinct connotations of risk can be found: so called objective risk, defined as the ratio of a particular number of accidents and a measure of exposure, and subjective risk, defined as the perception and awareness of risks by the person(s) involved. This article explores the significance of risk perception and awareness in understanding and clarifying how and why accidents involving consumer products occur. Based on empirical evidence from video-recorded reconstructions of accidents with consumer products, the risk perception and awareness of users in relation to featural and functional product characteristics, and their influence on actual product use culminating in an accident, is addressed. In contrast with what is usually assumed in the literature, the findings show that the majority of the subjects had no idea that they were running any risk of injuring themselves while they operated the product. In several accidents, the product either offered functionalities not anticipated in the design or did not adequately reflect its condition. The implications of the findings for design practice as well as for risk research are discussed.
Accidents↗
Questioning validity in the area of ergonomics/human factors.
This paper focuses on the analysis of deviation in findings within ergonomics/human factors (E/HF) research. The current terms used to address the analysis of deviation in empirical research revolve around the notion of validity. In E/HF research papers, 'validity' is widely interpreted and includes its common parlance usage. More importantly, analysis frequently limits 'validation' to the equivalent of 'verification', eventually resulting in 'validity' as a label of little significance. To clarify the analysis of deviation, 'investigative syntaxes' are introduced to show what exactly should or can be questioned when deviation is observed, i.e. either empirical findings or propositions, and how this questioning can be structured. The possibility is discussed that, with or without the help of these syntaxes, validation may become a method of inquiry; a productive means of generating significant theoretical questions which bear directly on empirical work.
Body Height↗
Usage centred research for everyday product design.
Prospective users of a new design in the area of everyday products offer innumerable opportunities for measurement and observation, in view of both the diversity in user populations and the freedom of where and how to use a product. In this paper, the relevance of human data is assessed for their impact in meeting functional imperatives in a design. On the basis of empirical studies, the significance of the observation/registration of user activities, including perceptual and cognitive activities, and the use of actions actually carried out is demonstrated. For everyday products, these activities are found to be only loosely related to human characteristics such as sensory capacities, body dimensions and exertable forces. Such characteristics seem to combine a limited relevance for usage centred design with relatively easy measurability. In contrast, observation of user activities may be evasive and is often laborious. User trialling is seen as an obvious way to enable designers to accommodate prospective user activities in everyday product design.
Activities of Daily Living↗
Variation in results of measurement repetition of human characteristics and activities.
The analysis of measurement variation in Ergonomics/Human Factors research reflects different approaches such as those prevalent in either the technical sciences or in the social sciences. The distinction is often a consequence of different types of measuring, for example measuring 'at' human beings as opposed to measuring 'through' human beings. In measuring 'at' human beings, as in anthropometrics, the measurement can be repeated several times. This allows the dispersion in results to be demonstrated via their standard deviation, as is usual in the technical sciences. In measuring 'through' human beings as, for example, in their performance in force exertion, a test-retest design is often adopted, i.e. a single repetition through several subjects in order to anticipate carry-over. In a number of research papers which were scrutinised, test-retest dispersion seems to have been analysed incompletely, ambiguously or incorrectly. In this paper a more appropriate way to specify within-subject dispersion is proposed, taking into account the dispersion patterning throughout the subjects. The relevance of studying this patterning is discussed, in terms of insight into human control, setting margins in design and for limiting the number of measurement repetitions per subject.
Ergonomics↗
Operation of controls on consumer products by physically impaired users.
The self-reliance of the physically impaired can be seriously jeopardized by their inability to operate everyday products, especially if both upper extremities are impaired. To determine the difficulties impaired users encounter in operating consumer product controls, on-site video recordings were made of subjects suffering from arthritis or a muscular disease. Subjects' force exertion was compared with that of a group of nonimpaired users. The resulting inventory allowed the analysis of the manipulation problems faced by impaired subjects and the development of design recommendations. In this study the force exerted by the subjects and that required to operate the controls were measured. A comparison of the results of these force measurements led to a number of conclusions. This study led to the following design recommendations: the amount of force required to operate controls should be kept as low as possible; the user should not be required to make two manipulations at the same time, such as simultaneously pushing and rotating a control device; pushing is preferable to rotating; and there should be a great degree of freedom to manipulate controls.
Activities of Daily Living↗
Research into accidents as a design tool.
Product liability legislation presses to gain more insight into the occurrence of accidents with consumer products, to the benefit of both producers and consumers. In this paper research is presented that was carried out in order to provide this insight. The research consisted of recording the reconstruction of accidents by the victims. The design relevance of the comprehensive data was assessed by a panel of industrial designers. The results are discussed in view of the development of a method that is actually applicable by industrial designers, in order to anticipate possible ways of use that might result in accidents. It is argued that the availability and the application of such a method would not only contribute to the prevention of accidents, but might also positively affect the marketing position of a product.
Accident Prevention↗