What is Ergonomics?
Dan MacLeod
www.danmacleod.com
January 8, 2003
Fit the task to the person
There are many good ways of defining the term ergonomics. Probably the best phrase that
describes the field is: "fit the task to the person, not the person to the
task." This means that rather than designing a piece of office furniture or equipment
simply based on aesthetics or storage capabilities, we take human anatomy and physiology
into consideration. We must ask ourselves the question, "can we expect the human to
work efficiently and without discomfort in this setting?"
Work smarter, not harder
Another way to understand the field is that it can help you to work smarter, and not
harder. That’s a phrase you’ve probably heard thousands of times, and it’s
an aim that we all want. But, ask yourself: If you were to look at some task —
whether at work or at home — and try to figure out a smarter way of doing the work,
how would you go about it? How do you actually figure out a smarter way of working?
The answer is ergonomics. Ergonomics provides a method for finding smarter ways
of working — the principles and techniques by which you can improve ways to work.
Make things user-friendly
A good way to understand what ergonomics means is to think about the term
"user-friendly." The two terms are actually synonymous; anything that is
friendly is ergonomic, and anything that is unfriendly is un-ergonomic. We first started
hearing the term "user-friendly" in conjunction with computers and how to make
the software easy to use. But we can easily broaden the meaning to all kinds of other
applications, such as chairs, workstations, and conference rooms.
The rules of work
Finally, it is instructive to know that the term ergonomics was coined from the
Greek words ergon (meaning "work") and nomos (meaning "rules). So
the literal meaning is "the rules of work," which has a nice ring to it. We all
need to go by the rules of work.
Formal Definition
Ergonomics: the field of study that seeks to design tools, equipment, and tasks to
optimize the interface between humans and systems.
Synonyms
Other terms that have been used for the field include:
Man-Maachine
Systems
Human-System Interface
Human Factors Engineering
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