Furniture, Work Stations, Hand Tools

The main design problems related to the layout, sizing and organisation of the environment, the sizing of products and equipment and the organisation of the required activities, require the joint consideration of aspects relating to physical tasks and cognitive tasks, as well as the emotional aspects related to the subjective situation of each one. A similar approach applies to the assessment of potential risks, which may derive from the partial or total incompatibility of the physical, sensory or cognitive characteristics and capabilities of the person, and the levels of performance required (and/or the constraints imposed) by the physical, social and organisational context in which they operate. Operationally, this involves identification of: - the people to whom the design is addressed (who use the product1 to be evaluated); • the main activities for which the product/system to be evaluated and/or designed are, or may be, used; - the physical and mental tasks required; • the anthropometric reference parameters (for example the height, the height of the eyes, the size of the hand, etc.) and the data relating to the group of users to whom they are addressed; - the physical and mental abilities (of movement and physical and cognitive effort) of the group of users under consideration, and the relative acceptance thresholds; - users’ limits. You must also define: - the limits of the design solution; - the acceptability thresholds and the related dimensional and functional constraints; - the dimensional requirements for the accessibility and dimensional usability of the environments, the products and their components, and in particular the spaces for movement and accessible areas; - the requirements relating to the characteristics, duration and/or intensity of the postures, movements and efforts required by each expected physical and mental task. The steps necessary for the correct definition of the dimensional constraints, and the limits of intervention of the project, can be further broken down and follow a succession different from the one just listed.