Subjective Preference and use of Workstation Adjustability Features

Abstract

In 18 separate 2-hour sessions, 22 female subjects performed a word processing task while seated on 6 different chairs in front of VDT's that were placed on 3 different worksurfaces. The chair types included posturetilt, swivel-tilt, synchro-tilt, and static with adjustability. The worlsurfaces consisted of a multilevel fixed surface, a fixed surface with adjustable accessories for a keyboard and display, and a fully adjustable worksurface. In addition to the word processing task, the subjects preferentially ranked both chairs and worksurfaces and rated each chair for comfort attributes on various body parts. The data base was subjected to an analysis of variance with the sources being chair, worksurface, and the possible interaction of these products, the results showed significant f-ratios for chairs. A similar finding was also observed for the work-surfaces. An examination of the net words per minute data found that a preferred chair and/or worksurface was identifiable. Analysis of a body-parts comfort scale did not differentiate significantly between the chairs or worksurfaces.