UI Form design considerations for ergonomists evaluating computer workstations

Abstract

A professional ergonomist performing a workplace evaluation identifies risk factors and provides recommendations to mitigate these risks. This system involves analysis of the interaction between a human subject and the subject’s computer based work environment. Since the data required to be collected is more than the average person can keep in their short term memory, it is safe to say the ergonomist will need to record observations. This will have to be done while simultaneously interacting with the employee performing work. Human-computer interaction is observed by the ergonomist, but ergonomists themselves also use a computer or tablet to take records and produce a report. The interaction and interface of the data collection form for ergonomic evaluations should cater to the needs and capabilities of the ergonomist in the field (Kim, 2015) and so it is not a surprise that most forms are designed by the ergonomists themselves. These forms are also typically tailored to the type of task being evaluated (i.e. computer, laboratory, industrial) because each of their environments have particular equipment or tools these need to be recorded. For example, a computer workstation will include a chair, desk, displays, etc. while a lap will have a stool chair, bench height seating, rack, flow hood, etc. This paper will describe key user-interface form design considerations for office ergonomic evaluation forms with the purpose of optimizing the user-experience for an ergonomic professional. Applications include the use of a form on a laptop computer, tablet, or phone in a computer workstation environment. This paper will consider factors related to the working environment, reliability, input requirements, form structure and flow, and front end to back end management agents. The goal of any interface is to be intuitive enough that it would require minimal familiarization to be reliably implemented (Norman, 2002). As users gain familiarity with the form entries, the ergonomist can benefit from increased speed, accuracy and consistency of their evaluations. The report generated by these completed forms can be utilized in legal and workers compensation cases and therefore they require special consideration in the way the questions are phrased and ordered to reduce potential for error and opportunities to place blame. This added complexity makes their design more than a simple task. Guidelines are included in this article that will proactively assist ergonomists in designing effective forms.