The strategic value of ergonomics for companies

The discipline of ergonomics studies the interaction between man and the designed technical and organizational environment. In product ergonomics, this knowledge is used to develop user-friendly products and in production ergonomics to design human-friendly (production) processes. Beside social goals, ergonomics can contribute to economic goals of an organization. With user-friendly products, a company can deliver benefits to its customers, which exceed those of competing products. With human-friendly production processes, a company can increase labor productivity and consequently can reach important cost-reductions. The growing consciousness of the importance of humans (customers and workers) for the success of organizations, implies that ergonomics can have a strategic value for the management of organizations. In this paper a model is presented how ergonomics can be integrated in the decision-making and design processes of organizations, and examples are given to show possible business benefits.Competitive advantage, labor productivity, human centered design, product development, process development

Perception of airport users' on environmental-friendly airport chair design in KLIA

Malaysia Airport Holding Berhad (MAHB) has taken several measures to spread environmental awareness among the staff and communities. Nevertheless, the awareness appeared to be lacking in the context of eco-design product. Eco-design integrates multifaceted design aspects and reflects the environment concept. Understanding consumers’ needs and desires is imperative in designing environmental-friendly product. As consumers’ expectation plays an important role in developing eco-products, a survey was carried out to evaluate the user’ (passengers) environmental-friendly perception and eco-design attributes on the current airport chair use in KLIA. In KLIA, airport chairs appear to be the significant facility used by the passengers. The results indicated that the most users rated that the existing airport chair did not apply environmental-friendly practices. Users viewed on attributes characteristics for eco-design chair was categorized into physical appearance (i.e.- attraction feelings, design and colour), sensational feeling (i.e.- physical, health, and usability) and physical characteristics (recycle, reusable, eco-material, reduce cost and reduce environmental impact). Based from these findings, this study contributed towards integrating environmental-friendly concept with users’ perception as part to promote sustainable product

ECO DESIGN IN DESIGN PROCESS

Eco-design is a new domain, required by the new trends and existing concerns worldwide, generated by the necessity of adopting new design principles. New design principles require the designer to provide a friendly relationship between concept created, environment and consume. This "friendly" relationship should be valid both at present and in the future, generating new opportunities for product, product components or materials from which it was made. Awareness, by the designer, the importance of this new trend, permits the establishment of concepts that have as their objective the protection of present values and ensuring the legacy of future generations. Ecodesig, by its principles, is involved in the design process, from early stage, the stage of product design. Priority objective of the designers will consist in reducing the negative effects on the environment through the entire life cycle and after it is taken out of use. The main aspects of the eco-design will consider extending product exploitation, make better use of materials, reduction of emission of waste. The design process in the "eco"domein must be started by selecting the function of the concept, materials and technological processes, causing the shape of macro and micro geometric of the product through an analysis that involves optimizing and streamlining the product. This paper presents the design process of a cross-sports footwear concept, built on the basis of the principles of ecodesig

Exploring perceptions for Cyprus as a sustainable golf destination: Motivational and attitudinal orientations of golf tourists

The study examines the perceptions of golf tourists in Cyprus, focusing on the sustainable character of golf practices through a series of statements that explore their motivation, and the experienced attributes of the Cypriot golf tourist product. Based upon a survey in three Cypriot golf courses, results show that the major motives of golf tourists to visit Cyprus include the island’s natural characteristics and the friendly environment. Furthermore, their perceptions concern their social interaction, environment and relaxation. The findings provide insight for the policy-makers to understand golf tourists’ perceptions and design accordingly the Cypriot golf tourism product. An integrative model is proposed for examining the motivation and perceptions of golf tourists in relation to attributes that can shape meaningful experiences and the sustainable development of golf tourism. This line of inquiry can be a useful perspective in examining comprehensively the shaping of sport tourist experiences within a sustainability context

Perception of airport users on environmental-friendly airport chair design in KLIA

Malaysia Airport Holding Berhad (MAHB) has taken several measures to spread environmental awareness among the staff and communities. Nevertheless, the awareness appeared to be lacking in the context of ecodesign product. Eco-design integrates multifaceted design aspects and reflects the environment concept. Understanding consumers’ needs and desires is imperative in designing environmental-friendly product. As consumers’ expectation plays an important role in developing eco-products, a survey was carried out to evaluate the user’ (passengers) environmental-friendly perception and eco-design attributes on the current airport chair use in KLIA. In KLIA, airport chairs appear to be the significant facility used by the passengers. The results indicated that the most users rated that the existing airport chair did not apply environmental-friendly practices. Users viewed on attributes characteristics for eco-design chair was categorized into physical appearance (i.e.- attraction feelings, design and colour), sensational feeling (i.e.- physical, health, and usability) and physical characteristics (recycle, reusable, eco-material, reduce cost and reduce environmental impact). Based from these findings, this study contributed towards integrating environmentalfriendly concept with users’ perception as part to promote sustainable product

Principles of Green Design: Analyzing User Activities and Product Feedback

This study investigated the design principles applicable to environmentally friendly product design. A practical approach was taken to examine principles that aid designers in producing an eco-friendly product that consumers will enjoy and use. Another important aspect to this study was to determine whether a positive environmental attitude or a willingness to change for the environment relates to environmentally responsible behavior. Two hypotheses were developed for successful eco-friendly products and then appropriate products were purchased to test these hypotheses. The activity hypothesis claims that if a product adds user activities, is less likely to be used. The feedback hypothesis states that a product that gives clear feedback is more likely to be used than a product that does not. Student participants took home products to use for one week, recorded each time they used the products, and then completed surveys afterword. One survey determined product success and the second measured environmental consciousness. The sample size for the experiment was 15 participants. The results indicate that there may be a positive relation between environmental attitude and environmental behavior, both of which were measured through surveys. For the activity hypothesis, we supposed that the product not adding user activities would be used more than the product adding activities. However, the experimental results have shown that this may not always be the case. For the feedback hypothesis, we speculated that visual reminder feedback and energy savings feedback both increase product usage. Combining both types of feedback was assumed to increase product usage more than any single type of feedback. The results for this part of the experiment indicate errors in the experimental design, but also aid in the future work for this research experiment

A CAD-MLCA interface for next-generation DFE tools

Environmental concerns and rising product disposal costs have pressed manufactures to make more environmentally friendly products and customers to use and dispose of them in an environmental responsive way. Thus the practice of Design for Environment (DFE) is becoming essential in today\u27s industrial environment. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) provides different ways for the environmental assessment of products. One critical step in performing lifecycle assessment of any product design is to collect design-related data. The common way based on manual input for traditional DFE tools is not only cumbersome and time-consuming but also error-prone. This thesis presents the characteristics of a DFE tool which not only extends traditional four stages LCA model to seven stages Multi-Lifecycle Assessment (MLCA) model, but also integrates CAD tools and MLCA software. It presents an interface for the DFE tool which can automatically extract all related design information from a product\u27s CAD database and populate to the database used for multi-lifecycle assessment. The interface design involves both database structure and population algorithm implemented in JAVA/JDBC. Thus CAD tools and multi-lifecycle assessment software are integrated to allow designers to make immediate environment performance evaluation of their product designs and thus make their changes, if needed, on-line. This work provides a robust infrastructure for the next generation DFE tools and overcomes a challenging technical barrier in the wide DFE application in industrial design practice

The AirCirc: design and development of a thermal management prototype device for below-knee prosthesis leg socket

This study describes a developed prosthetic leg socket design for a below-knee amputation. Excessive heat and the resulted perspiration within a prosthetic socket were the most common causes for reporting a reduced quality of life for prosthetic users. The product namely AirCirc means air circulation and it has been designed by approach of medical device design process in providing the amputees to maintain the skin temperature inside the socket, ultimate comfort and breathable. In order to design the device, the small hole was made in prosthetic socket surface since it has a function as air circulation. Four types of proposed sockets and a control socket were compared on a single patient. The result successfully reveals that the design can be maintain the temperature inside prosthetic socket. In addition to the eco-friendly material, the woven kenaf was used as material that provides good strength as compared to glass fibre and offer sustainable and biodegradable product. The objective of this paper is to provide the airflow prosthetic socket design and optimize the use of natural fiber in prostheses field. Thus, with the use of the environmental friendly material, functionality device and heat removal capability make the device suitable for maintaining a comfortable and healthy environment for prosthesis

Extrapolative Morph Design Thinking as an Intangible Ecological Form to Encode the Ecodesign Identity

This paper identifies a new distinction of ecodesign form, where it emerged from the literature case study that most practising designers have not conceived to interpret design research as an ecodesign identity. This research article objective reveals the ecological form creation in the semantics orders. The imaging product digitized an ecological form that was hermeneutically sourced by the literature review process using the heuristic method. It digitized the visual imagery before entering the prescriptive stage. The product imagery therefore digitized some ecodesign characteristics that the intangible ecological form conveyed in the form follows functional perspective; believing to environmentally-friendly product design. Keywords: Form; heuristic method; industrial design; intangible ecological form eISSN: 2398-4287© 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bsby e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v5iSI3.253