Ergonomics is the science of designing for human use, and has a practical role in the design of everything from a corkscrew to a car. It is about making useful devices usable and is an essential part of the design process, particularly as devices become more complex to operate. The science is based on theories and knowledge of human performance, both physical performance and mental performance. The principal objective for ergonomists is to improve the working and domestic lives of people by increasing comfort, satisfaction and productivity, and reducing errors. Ergonomic methods are used to improve product design by understanding or predicting human interaction with those devices.
Ergonomic methods focus on different aspects of human performance.
The methods may be broadly classified as quantitative or qualitative approaches. All of the methods make predictions about the user and the device. The quantitative methods predict the physical fit of a device to the body, workload, speed of performance and errors. The qualitative methods predict user comfort and satisfaction, device optimisation and user-device interaction. Including ergonomics in the design process requires careful thought.