T3WK4 - Ergonomics (Product Description and Idea Trigger)

Picture of the product
i) Describe the product. (Appearance, Color, Function, etc)
The product is easily scale removal plane. It is convenient to remove the scales of  a fish. Its texture is smooth and comes in orange and white colours. One can put two fingers in the holes and use to clean the scales of a fish.

ii) What are the design considerations when designing this product?


It must be waterproof and must be sharp enough to get rid of the scales of fish.

iii) Would an elderly faced difficulty using this product? If yes, what are the difficulties that the elderly would face?
An elderly would face difficulty in using this product. The elderly might not be able to stuff his fingers into the holes.


My improved version:

Ergonomics 2

1. What is Ergonomics?


Ergonomics is the science of designing the job, equipment, and workplace to fit the worker.

2. What are the 5 aspects of Ergonomics?


The 5 aspects of Ergonomics are safety, comfort, ease of use, productivity/performance and aesthetics. 


3. For each aspects of Ergonomics, explain with an example of a product that is designed for the elderly, how the product meet that particular aspect of Ergonomics.


Safety- Sign boards, especially in car parks. The sign boards must be clear and big so that the elderly will understand the directions and will not need to risk getting knocked down by a car.


Comfort- The grip of the medicine bottles should be design in a way that the elderly can grip it easily and firmly so that the elderly will not spill the contents or pills in the bottle. 


Ease of use-Grab bars in the toilets must be to the ease of the elderly to use so that they will not slip in the toilet.


Productivity/Performance-The trolley that the elderly always use whenever they go to the market. It must not require a lot of effort for the elderly to push the trolley.


Aesthetics-For aesthetics would be the adjustable back,arm and head rest to suit and adapt to the sitting posture of the elderly so that will not hurt the back of the elderly.

Ergonomics 1- Question 4

4. Why do you think that Ergonomics is important when designing?


We need to accommodate to the user's comfort and needs and benefit the company and the worker. Increase productivity of the work.

Ergonomics I

1. Compare the 2 different workplaces, state your observations.


The person at the 1st workplace have difficulties in adjusting the height of the chair to suit himself at the table. He also had some difficulties finding a comfortable distance from the chair to the table as he is fidgeting. The person at the 2nd workplace is comfortable with his chair as he can lean back on the chair when he is typing. It seems to be a comfortable distance from the chair to the table. The metal part of the chair allow the person to lean back easily.

The person at the 1st workplace also had trouble reading the monitor's screen. He could not move the monitor on the table nearer to him. The person at the 2nd workplace could make use the monitor's arm to adjust the distance of the monitor nearer to him. It allows comfort for the 2nd person as he does not need to scrunch his eyes just to read off the monitor.

The 1st person could not find the perfect lighting for him. It is either too glaring or too dim. The design of the lights focused the lights onto the person's face while the lights at the 2nd person's workplace focused the lights at the object. Hence, the 2nd person would not have to endure the glaring light while still have sufficient light to see. 

The chair at the 1st person's workplace does not allow the person to move freely. He almost spilled his drink onto himself. The chair at the 2nd person's workplace has a adjustable armrest so that the person can move the armrest down when he is not using it. He will not have to worry that he will knock into the armrest. When he needs a support for his arms, then he will lift the armrest up. The design of the armrest allows the user to use armrest when needed without the armrest being a nuisance when it is not needed.

My Last Observation

I am going to do my observation on the uncle who sells newspaper. Uncle always has to wake up at 5am. Then he will go to his booth. Normally, he will have to wait until about 5.30am before the newspaper are delivered. Some newspapers are even later. As Uncle was rather fit, he was able to lift the huge stack of newspaper from the ground to the table. So. generally, Uncle's routine is just wake up, got to booth, arrange the newspaper (including lifting) and sell the newspapers. I think the part that I can help him is the lifting. Although he is rather fit, he is still an elderly. I might want to help him to design something that can help him do the lifting.

My observation 3

This time, I am doing my observation about the old uncle who is working at the vegetable stall at the market. He wakes up every day 4.30am and work to about 12.30pm. He will go to the stall and start to pick the vegetables. As he is rather old, he will have some difficulties carrying the vegetables from the lorry  to the stall. Even with the help of the trolley, he still seemed to need help.

My floorplan for elderly

This is a floorplan for elderly. As you can see, most of the furniture are by the side to prevent the elderly from falling.

This is the bed.

This is the toilet. There will be hand rails inside for the elderly and non-slip tiles.

This is the door.

This is the dining table. I positioned near the stove so that if the elderly cooked hot soup, they would not have to walk very far.

This is the stove. The green box is the refrigerator where the elderly can put all the groceries in.