Ergonomics (from Greekergon work and nomoi natural laws) is the study of designing objects to be better adapted to the shape of the human body and/or to correct the user's posture. Common examples include chairs designed to prevent the user from sitting in positions that may have a detrimental effect on the spine, and the ergonomic desk which offers an adjustable keyboard tray, a main desktop of variable height and other elements which can be changed by the user.
Ergonomics is much larger than looking at the physiological and anatomical aspects of the human being. The psychology of humans is also a key element within the ergonomics discipline. This psychological portion of ergonomics is usually referred to as Human factors or Human factors engineering in the U.S., and ergonomics is the term used in Europe. Understanding design in terms of cognitiveworkload, human error, the way humans perceive their surrounds and, very importantly, the tasks that they undertake are all analysed by ergonomists.
Engineers make things that are useful to people. In collaboration with designers, ergonomists make things that are usable by people. The concept of usability means making artefactseasy, efficient and comfortable to use (anything from a corkscrew to a control room in a nuclear power station). Most people have experience of poorly designed objects. At best they cause frustration and annoyance (for example when a video recorder fails to record your favourite programme). At worst they can lead to injury or even death (as in the release of radioactive material from a nuclear reactor).
Lot's of interesting things have been talked about here, just adding new topics under the larger user interface and ergonomy part make this thread a real quest to read.
Or try to place different user interface and ergonomy topics in different threads ?
It's a pretty broad topic as you can see from the other posts.
Lighting is an area of ergonomy that is maybe the most frequently overlooked.
The ergonomy of lighting has two areas of importance: mechanical (removal of glare, adjusting the intensity), and the quality of the light (how closely the light matches that of full-spectrum daylight).
Again, the latter of the two is more frequently overlooked factor but it has at least as much influence on lighting comfort than the mechanical aspects.
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