Week 10 Industrial Ergonomics

Lusi Susanti, Hilma Raimona Zadry

Reference:

R.S. Brodger (1995). Introduction to

Ergonomics. McGraw-Hill International
Edition.

Displays and controls are the interface

through which human-machine
information exchange takes place.

The design of the displays and controls

of a machine can either facilitate
interaction or increase task difficulty and
the probability of error.

DISPLAYS

Display provide operator with

information about the status of
equipment.

Displays are either visual, auditory,

tactile.

Labels and instructions or warnings are

special kind of displays.

Display Design

When designing or selecting a display it

is critical that all the information needs
of the user be fully understood.

Failure to do so may result in providing

incomplete information.

Use of Dynamic
Information
The information provided by dynamic
displays can be used in a variety of ways.
Quantitative

display/readings
Qualitative display/readings
Situation awareness

Basic Design of
Quantitative Display
1.

Fixed scale with moving pointer

2.

Moving scale with fixed pointer

3.

Digital display

Examples of Basic Features

of Quantitative Design

Qualitative Display

Primarily interested in the approximate

value of some continuously changeable
variable, such as:
Temperature
Pressure or speed
Rate of change

Use of Qualitative
Display

To determine status or condition of the variable.

Example: temperature gauge is cold or normal or hot.

To maintain desirable range of approximate

values.
Example: maintaining driving speed 80km/h.

To observe trends or rate of change.

Example: altitude of airplane

Principles for Design of

Visual Display
1.

Figure-ground Differentiation
is a fundamental step in perceptual
processing, in which:
The perceived figure has form

while the background is formless.

The figures appear to stand out
against the background.

Principles for Design of

Visual Display
2.

Grouping
There are 2 principles in the grouping:
Proximity
Similarity (on the basis of color, shape,

or size)
Symmetry
Continuity

Proximity

The principle of proximity states that elements

of a stimulus array which occur together are
perceived to belong to each other, in the sense
that flashing lights on an ambulance
accompanied by a siren "belong" to an
emergency.

The principle of proximity is extremely

important in panel design since similar display
elements that appear to belong together
because of their proximity should belong
together at the level of system operation

The principle of
proximity

Similarity

The principle of similarity

states that similar items will
be grouped together.

In display design, similarity

can be used to partition
various parts of a display and
strengthen the tendency to
perceive related elements as
belonging together (by
making them appear similar).

Similarity

People have a very strong tendency to perceive

similarly colored objects as belonging together as
long as no more than three or four colors are
used together.

Color can be used to provide conceptual grouping

of text in itineraries, timetables, and so on.

Generally, Red is interpreted to mean Stop or

danger, Green to mean Go or the system is
running normally, orange to signify caution.

Symmetry

Describes how in the attempt to interpret

the stimulus array, so as to maximize its
meaningfulness, elements of the array will
be included to form symmetrical or
balanced figures.

Continuity

Describes how in the perceptual system

extracts qualitative information from a
stimulus to form a unity.

Principles for Design of

Visual Display
3.

Resolution of Detail

The ability to resolve detail depends on the

accommodation of the lens of the eye, the
ambient lighting, and the visual angle.

Visual angle is a more useful concept than

absolute object size since it takes into
account both the size of the object and its
distance from the viewer.

Under good lighting, a minimum visual angle

of 15 minutes of arc is recommended.
Many instruments such as dials and gauges
are designed to be read at a reference
distance of about 70 cm. If the reference
distance is known, the required change in
object size to equalize the visual angle when
the object has to be viewed at a different
distance can be calculated by

Humans can visually apprehend and make

intuitive judgments about small numbers of
objects quite easily, but this ability is lost as soon
as the number of objects increases by more than
about five.

Principles for Design of

Visual Display
4.

Color Coding of Dials

Color coding of parts of a dial face is an example

of a qualitative way of facilitating visual
judgment.

In industrial applications, green is used to

indicate the part of the dial associated with safe
or normal operation, orange to suggest caution,
and red to suggest unsafe or abnormal
operation of the displayed parameter.

4.

Color Coding of Dials

Similarly, in car instrumentation, the

temperature gauge is often color coded.
Red is used to indicate the hightemperature part of the scale (which
signifies overheating of the engine if the
pointer moves into the red region) and
blue to indicate the cool part of the scale
(which indicates under heating and
possible thermostat malfunction if the
pointer remains in this part of the scale
after the engine has warmed up).

4.

Color Coding of Dials

Color coding can be combined with

quantitative scaling in dial design.

Color-coded dials do not require the operator

to memorize exact scale values which
correspond to normal, unsafe, or suboptimal
states, but exact values can be taken when
needed.

Color coding of dials can reduce the memory

load of routine checking tasks.

Principles for Design of

Visual Display
5.

Digital Display

Digital displays should be used in situations

where highly accurate reading of displayed
quantities is required.

Digital displays are inferior to analog displays for

conveying information about rates of change, so
in those cases where both types of information
are required, a compromise design can be used
in which a digital counter is superimpose on the
dial face.

Principles for Design of

Visual Display
5.

Multiple-Display Configurations

Despite the existence of display design guidelines,

multiple-display configurations are often neglected by
designers.

There were insufficient visual cues to facilitate the

differentiation of subsystems. It was observed that
experienced operators became familiar with the panels
they operated most frequently-usually through routine
operation-and were least familiar with least used panelsthose that were most critical in emergencies.

Guiding Visual Search in

Complex Displays

Design of Visual Warning

May contain text , graphics and pictures

often redundantly.

Graphics particularly pictures, pictograms

and icons simplified drawings of objects
or abstract sign meant to identify an
object.

Before Design Visual

Warning,
Reasons
to warn
potential injury, danger,
it
should
be considered:

people at risk
What to warn about
product/environment/etc. to be use properly,
improper will cause serious injury.
Whom to warn- potential users, general
public, potential customers.
How to warn- warning on products,
instructions, advertisement.

Design of Labels

Orientation: horizontal can be read quickly

and easily
Location: place near or on item
Standardization: should be consistent
throughout the system and equipment
Abbreviation: common
Brevity: concise as possible
Familiarity: familiar words
Visibility and Legibility: can be read easily and
accurately
Font and size: simple font

Controls

CONTROLS

Controls transmit input to a piece of

equipment.

Usually operated by hand or foot.

The results of the control inputs are shown to

the operator either in terms of displays or
indicators or by the ensuring actions of the
machine.

Control Design

Controls should be designed to be operable in

low-stress postures and without static loading
of body parts, particularly the fingers.

Control dimensions should be determined

using appropriate hand and foot
anthropometry and a knowledge of the biomechanical advantage needed to enable the
user to actuate the control easily.

Combining Control and

Display

The controls and display should be located

close to each other to reflect their relations.
This allows convenient, fast setting of the
correct control.

It is clear when the controls is directly below

or to the right of the display.

Stereotypes are often depend on the users

background and culture.

Avoid Spatial Transformations

Example of Grouping Principle

in
Panel Design

Avoid Spatial
Transformations