ABSTRACT
Globalization, technological complexity, the growth of more mature markets demanding differentiated or high-quality products, and the pressure of competition to reduce time and cut development costs have been leading to a broader application of methods and techniques that address human factors in different ways. As a result, a large number of methods and techniques have been developed, each offering different and complementary approaches that enhance the understanding of design requirements relating to people. In line with this, the aim of this chapter is to present an overall view of current trends addressing ergonomic and human factors in consumer product design, so that the advantages, disadvantages, and challenges facing researchers and practitioners can be understood. A further goal is to locate the pertinent application of methods and techniques over the whole product life cycle (PLC), with respect to design and innovation processes.
