ABSTRACT
Since its inception as a formal approach by Alphonse Chapanis (1974), cultural ergonomics has gained prominence in efforts to globalize science and engineering. Cultural ergonomics is a necessary component to research, design, and evaluate inclusive systems and technologies in cross-national, global, and even localized contexts. Although some have embraced this approach, the status quo of human factors/ ergonomics continues to give priority to designing for “normal operators” working under “customary conditions” (Kroemer, 2006, p. 3). Yet, the practical concepts of normal and customary represent an ongoing bias toward designing for adults who were formerly employed in offices or manufacturing settings, ranging in age from 20 to 50, and living in Westernized affluent countries such as North America, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia (Kroemer, 2006). Even within these nations, the adults who are the focus of design are more than likely to be of European descent, excluding minority, indigenous, or aboriginal populations in those same nations. This highly constrained view of human factors/ergonomics continues to threaten the pace in which we advance science and engineering, and undermines our ability to conduct effective, usable, and safe translational research and technology transfer. Aaron Marcus (2006) suggests it is not only people in the United States who do not understand the importance of cultural differences in how we design, but also those in all
Cultural Ergonomics Justified ....................................................................................1 Advances in the Knowledge Domain .........................................................................4
