ABSTRACT
It is typical to start ergonomic design from the top-down, and for this reason, ergonomic engineers must seek answers to who, what, when, where, and how the task is performed. Often they arrive at answers to these questions using some kind of chart, diagram, or graph that conveniently describes one aspect of the problem. This chapter describes a variety of these graphic devices and discusses each in terms of its particular forte. Most of these graphic techniques reflect some fundamental ergonomic design principle, so the chapter also provides a general discussion of these principles. Introducing the reader to these principles is a primary objective of this chapter, along with developing knowledge of how the diagrams and charts support these principles. It is also important that designers understand how the charts and diagrams differ so that the proper form can be selected. Acquiring the data to put into these charts often involves task analysis, another topic of this chapter.
