Design for Ergonomics

Ergonomics focuses on the interaction that people establish or can establish with the other elements of the system in which and with which they carry out their work and daily life activities. Interaction that takes place within a complex system, in which each element affects and modifies others, and of which people are an integral part with their characteristics, skills needs and expectations. The aim of ergonomics is to optimize, that is to improve at the highest possible level, both the well-being of people and the overall performance of the system, through evaluation and design interventions aimed at making compatible environments and systems with people’s needs, abilities and limitations. Ergonomics is therefore a complex approach to assessing and designing the interaction between people and the systems with which they relate, which focuses not on the quality of the system itself, but on the quality actually experienced from the specific group of people who relate to it, depending on their characteristics, abilities, needs, expectations, the activities they perform, and the set of variables (physical, technological, environmental, organizational, cultural) that may affect that relationship on a case-by-case basis. Essential, for the understanding of the relationship between ergonomics and Design and its evolution over time, is the definition of Human-Centred Design, today largely superimposed on the definition of Ergonomics, of which it represents the most recent component and closer to the culture and practice of the project.