Getting a handle on ergonomics

The science of moulding the environment to suit a human being has special applicability in cars

Ergonomic design is less a science, more a black art, in the eyes of many people. If the typical lay person knows anything at all about the discipline it's quite likely that understanding is founded on examples of its failure.

One obvious example users often cite is the QWERTY keyboard. It has long outstayed its welcome in an era of laser printing.

And the aviation industry is rife with cases of ergonomic failures that have led to damage and loss of life.

According to the International Ergonomics Association, Ergonomics (or human factors) is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimise human well-being and overall system performance.

The Wikipedia entry lists the different branches of ergonomics as: anthropometry, biomechanics, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, industrial design, information design, kinesiology, physiology, cognitive psychology and industrial and organisational psychology.

Some, if not all, of these aspects impact on automotive design. For automotive designers it's not merely a question of inventing new, easier ways of operating controls, it can also be a matter of accepting that some tried and true methods are more acceptable across the board because they've been around for ever and are a completely known quantity - like the QWERTY keyboard or the H-pattern manual shift.

It’s not just the driver affected by the designer’s decisions either. Holden’s Crewman dual-cab ute was frequently criticised for its poorly conceived rear-seat accommodation, with the passengers forced to occupy a straight-backed position aimed at maximising a deficient load tray behind.

In the main, however, it’s the driver who's most likely affected by ergonomic shortcomings.

Here's one case noted in a press vehicle from some years ago:

That's an example taken from one review – never published – for a car the writer found failed to meet his standards for straightforward functionality. At least some of this particular car's issues arose out of being designed for left-hand drive markets primarily, with RHD markets a mere afterthought.

Other design elements that will often niggle reviewers are things like slow responding satellite-navigation systems – which are still recalculating or offering voice prompts for the previous corner as you approach the next, or telling you you've reached your destination a hundred metres shy of the street number.

There are issues like the fuel gauge that 'empties' from left to right rather than the reverse, which is much more common, or the LED instruments that are 'dimmed' by glare from the sun, or a single-point controller that scrolls down through menu items by turning the knob anti-clockwise rather than clockwise, which is preferred by the majority of companies offering such systems.

Motoring enthusiasts feel that writers are frequently picky about the A-pillars in Holden's VE/VF Commodore. They haven't hit anything themselves in n years of driving, so the car must be safe – it's the drivers at fault. But those Holden fans are usually thinking only of their own personal safety, not the safety of other road users – the cyclist/bikie at a roundabout or a kid running across a pedestrian crossing. And in the hand-wringing that follows a kid being bowled over, nobody thinks to question whether the tragedy might have been avoided if the car's field of vision were better.

Indicator stalks on the left of the steering column or resetting a trip computer or disabling an overspeed alert – these are all problems to confound motoring journalists who don't get the illuminating product briefing from the nice, friendly salesperson during the handover of the new car. More often than not the key is tossed to the journalist to drive the car home for the first time at the end of a working day.

The obvious response from the reader then, would be: "So why does it matter? Owners will learn about the vehicle's ergonomic quirks within a week..."

Here then, is a real-life 'hypothetical' to illustrate why it's important...

Person X – a partner or child whose daily drive is a Volkswagen Golf 7 – has to attend a job interview several suburbs away. The problem is that the Golf is in the workshop being serviced, so 'X' takes the family car – a Honda Accord Euro.

First challenge is setting up the driving position to suit – mirrors, seat height, distance to the pedals, rake of the seat backrest and the steering wheel reach. Then, because 'X' needs to be in touch with a friend of the family/relative who is entering maternity hospital to have her child induced, it's important to pair the smartphone to the car via Bluetooth.

After spending five, 10, perhaps 20 minutes working out how to do that, 'X' finally gets out of the driveway. At the very first corner 'X' wipes the windscreen rather than indicating a turn to the right. The indicator stalk on the right side of the column – where it should be in a right-hand drive country – keeps 'X' guessing for the next five minutes and elicits a honk of the horn from another driver as 'X' changes lanes or completes a turn with the wipers wiping furiously.

'X' has relied on the Honda's satellite-navigation to find the destination for the job interview, except the Honda's navigation system won't allow a destination to be programmed while the vehicle is on the move. So 'X' pulls over to program the address into the system, taking longer still to understand how the system works – given it's different from the Golf's.

Twenty minutes into the drive, the low fuel warning light illuminates, accompanied by a chime. 'X' keeps an eye out for a service station and pulls into the forecourt of the next one along the route. Running around to the rear of the car, 'X' finds that the Honda's fuel filler is located on the left side – the Golf's is on the right.

The options are: back up and park on the other side of the pump island, or stretch the hose right across the rear window of the Honda. 'X' tries the latter first, only to find the hose won't stretch that far, so back into the driver's seat, start reversing and then stop – because there's another car queued up behind the Honda.

Eventually, the Honda is located where it should be, for easy dispensation of fuel. Except the fuel filler flap won't open for 'X'. After several minutes of head-scratching followed by terse discussion with an impatient driver waiting to use the pump where the Accord Euro is standing, 'X' works out/is told that there's a fuel release lever in the cabin to unlatch the filler flap.

A five-minute refuel has stretched out to 10 minutes and 'X' is really starting to feel stressed and anxious ahead of the job interview.

On the road again and an incoming phone call from partner/parent/child/friend/colleague has 'X' floundering around trying to answer the call, because the Golf's phone button is on the right spoke of the steering wheel, the Honda's is located at the eight o'clock position below and slightly behind the left spoke of the wheel.

Failing to find the means of answering the phone – with the call going to voicemail – 'X' pulls over by the side of the road once more and phones the caller back. More time lost, stress building and Honda antipathy ramping up.

For reasons 'X' can't explain, the volume for the satellite-navigation voice prompts has been lowered to zero. Rather than pull over again and struggle with the owner’s manual to establish how to make the voice prompts audible once more, 'X' soldiers on, relying on the display to light the way.

As a consequence, 'X' has to take eyes off the road to view the screen and finds the Honda's display difficult to interpret anyway. A couple of near misses later – and 'X' doesn't know it but the Honda has sailed past a mobile speed camera at 65km/h in a 60km/h zone while 'X' was distracted watching the screen – the Honda finally reaches its destination.

'X' performs poorly in the interview, having arrived late, totally frazzled. The job goes to someone else and a letter politely declining 'X's job application arrives in the mail the same day as a speed camera infringement notice.

Granted it's a worst-case scenario, but there isn't a motoring journalist alive who hasn't been frustrated by a switch located somewhere other than where it should be, or seats that won't fold flat as they should, or fiddling around trying to insert a key in a lock barrel that's concealed behind the steering wheel.

And if that's frustrating for people who leap in and out of different cars all the time – how much more frustrating must it be for the first-time user?

Picture: Allard L1, courtesy ozz13x/Wikimedia Commons

Getting a handle on ergonomics

Tags