ABSTRACT

Ergonomics, or human factors as it alternately is known in North America, is considered generally to have had its formal inception as an identifiable discipline in the late 1940s. From the beginning, ergonomics has been concerned with the design of sociotechnical systems to optimize humansystem interfaces. For the first three decades of its formal existence, the focus of this design concern was on optimizing the interfaces between individual operators and their immediate work environment, or what today often is referred to as microergonomics. Initially this focus was labeled as man-machine interface design. In the 1970s, as industrialized cultures became more sensitive to gender issues, it became known as human-machine interface design. In general, the objective was to apply scientific knowledge about human capabilities, limitations, and other characteristics to the design of operator controls, displays, tools, workspace arrangements, and physical environments to enhance health, safety, comfort, and productivity, and to minimize human error via design.