ABSTRACT
The perceived quality and usability of a product depends on the user, his or her needs, and how well the product satisfies those needs. Since different users may have different needs or use the product in different ways, quality is not a static characteristic either within or among individuals in the population. The focus of this chapter is on improving product quality and usability through ergonomic design. As noted in this chapter, an initial challenge for the ergonomic designer is to identify the intended users of the product, and what this population wants. This results in a set of requirements prioritized in terms of importance. The next step is to identify ways of satisfying each requirement. A survey of existing products is often helpful at this stage to identify desirable design features and set performance targets. Products that satisfy customer requirements particularly well should be carefully studied. Potential designs can then be developed and evaluated. If a proposed design does not satisfy certain requirements as well as a product on the market, the better product is often studied to see how it achieved these advantages and how the proposed design can be modified to improve its performance on an important criterion without losing out on another. In the final stages of this process, once the product is sufficiently developed to enter the market place, field studies and other means of data collection provide a way of checking whether the product is adequately meeting customer requirements.
