Ergonomics in Design: The Quarterly of Human Factors Applications

Apart from raising the bar on movie-making technology, Avatar draws on concepts such as brain-computer interfaces.

Fast-maturing flexible display technology, explored in a military application using this envisioning method, both reveals potential utility and raises questions for further study.

Flexible displays (FDs) are thin, lightweight, flexible displays that use little power and can be easily stored, carried, or mounted on clothing. Diverse applications are being imagined for the emerging FD technology, but it will take more than imagination to develop applications that have high utility and functionality. In this article we focus on military applications of wearable FD technology and demonstrate a scenario-based envisioning research method that provides a realistic context for usability analysis. Via this method, participants were encouraged to generate ideas for the uses of wearable FDs and to identify possible problems and misapplications. Results show that FDs will take on different functionalities depending on the task context and the responsibilities of the user.

Function analysis drives a bold concept for a vehicle that could transport humans around the harsh Martian terrain in the year 2037.

Responding to a design challenge by the U.K. magazine Industrial Vehicle Technology International, ergonomist Steven Casey and industrial designer Gregg Montgomery joined forces to develop a concept for a manned Mars Exploration Rover to be used on the Red Planet in the year 2037. The exercise was a classic use of function analysis, an HF/E engineering method integral to the development of unique systems. The harsh Mars environment, overall mission objectives, living and working environments, and anticipated astronaut tasks were the driving forces behind the conceptual design. Their Mars Exploration Rover recently was awarded the prestigious GOOD DESIGN Award for “its bold, futuristic design” by the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design with the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

Behavioral safety programs prove their rapid effectiveness in changing unsafe working behavior in Indian multinational organizations – or anywhere.

An ongoing national action re search survey of behavior-based safety (BBS) in India counts among its participants 1,750 executives and 713 workers in 57 multinational organizations representing a variety of industries, such as petroleum, steel, cement, power, and chemicals. This article presents selected original case studies and field observations made in BBS training interventions conducted between 1997 and 2009. These observations can be useful in extending the BBS concept and process to human resources and safety professionals, as well as to anyone concerned about correcting unsafe behaviors in the workplace, reducing the incidence of accidents, and promoting safe behaviors to develop an injury-free culture in their organizations.

“I think we can all agree that long-duration mission training and development must prepare crews to handle not only extreme circumstances but also the ups and downs of daily life.”

Fear is normal. … Courage is not the absence of fear. … We cannot live long enough to make all the mistakes ourselves. … We must learn from our own as well as others' experiences.

— Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, Celebrity Forum Speakers Series, October 1, 2010

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In this column, EID Senior Editor William F. Moroney reports on ergonomics issues that have appeared in the press. Contributions are invited. Please send electronic copy with references to moroney@udayton.edu.