Alessia Brischetto

This contribution presents the results of the POR CReO-FP7 project “Triaca” developed in liaison with the recreational vehicle company Triganò S.p.a. The aim of the project was the development of innovative solutions in terms of environmental sustainability and the quality of user experience. The description of the work is intended to highlight how ergonomics and design – and in particular the relation between human-centred design and design for innovation strategies – constitute a substantial competitive factor. The contribution illustrates how the human-centred design (HCD) approach was experimented, and more specifically the methods for assessing usability and safety also through the direct involvement of the users.

The social changes currently underway and the ageing population make it urgent to rethink products and services in the home care sector in order to improve their safety, ease of use and comprehensibility, usability, reducing the possibility of errors and accidents and extending their use to the most vulnerable user groups. Ergonomics for Design, with its tools for assessing user needs and expectations, plays a fundamental role in the innovation of human-centred products and services for care and assistance, capable of responding to the needs of the various users involved. At the same time, innovations related to the development of connective digital technologies offer many opportunities for design in the field of home care. In addition to providing an overview of design-oriented innovation strategies, the volume presents a number of projects carried out by the Ergonomics & Design Laboratory at the University of Florence.

The search for new ways of fostering healthy lifestyles within our homes is one of the most complex challenges facing the manufacturers of electrical household appliances, or white goods. Such companies are steering their work towards the promotion of new trends within the framework of sustainability, interaction and energy efficiency. The spread of ICT enables the creation of communication systems that connect the domestic appliances to the users and to other appliances, thus enabling the development of new systems of interaction. This is the area of research in which the work presented here is inserted, illustrating the initial results of the POR CReO-FP7 “High Chest” project developed with Whirlpool Europe S.r.l. Manufacturers generally consider the chest freezer as a commodity, in other words a product that performs its functions but does not feature any particular characterisations connected with the producer company. Consequently, to date aspects such as competitive price and profit margin have been given priority over technological innovation and performance. The aim of the High Chest project was to develop a new family of chest freezers that would be innovative in terms of environmental sustainability, energy efficiency and the promotion of eco-efficient behaviour guided by good design. This contribution is focused on ergonomics and design, and more specifically on the user-centred design (UCD) approach and its methods of usability and safety evaluation. “Design is seen as a way of identifying and solving user problems [...]. User-centred design innovation stresses human needs, aspirations and abilities, and strives for holistic and visionary solutions”1. In order to foster eco-efficient behaviour and improve the use of the chest freezer, the characteristics and needs of the users were examined in relation to different profiles in terms of age, habits, capacities, limitations, physical size and the capacity for movement. Expert evaluation methods and methods based on the direct involvement of the users were applied for the definition and development of a new product.

The paper presents the first results of the POR CReO-FP7 project “Triaca” developed in liaison with the recreational vehicle company Triganò S.p.a. The aim of the project was the development of innovative solutions in terms of environmental sustainability and the quality of user experience. The description of the work is intended to highlight how ergonomics and design – and in particular the relation between user-centred design and design for innovation strategies – constitute a substantial competitive factor. The paper illustrates how the user-centred design (UCD) approach was experimented, and more specifically the methods for assessing usability and safety also through the direct involvement of the users. Practitioner Summary: the work is an example of application of the user-centred design approach, and is conceived as an operational contribution for researchers and designers working in the ergonomics and design sector.

Ergonomics for Design, on the one hand, allows the project to be geared towards the real needs and expectations of contemporary users and to define new usage scenarios, starting from the research methods typical of traditional Ergonomics or Human Factors, and User-Centred Design. Design for Sustainability, on the other hand, thanks to criteria for predicting the environmental impact of products, directs design not only towards the rationalisation of the materials used for production, but above all towards reducing consumption and the environmental impact of products during use, favouring both the use of low-consumption technologies and renewable energy production, and solutions capable of guiding and raising awareness among domestic users on these issues.

The essay presents the contents of the ergonomic approach in relation to Design For All, through the analysis of regulatory and research references that have progressively defined the common ground for research and experimentation. In particular, the contents of the ICF, International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the regulatory tools recently produced by ISO and UNI. In this context, the methods of investigation and intervention used in ergonomics and user-centred design represent a theoretical and practical tool that is appropriate for addressing the issues of Design For All and supporting research and experimentation in this field. The essay concludes by presenting the latest research and design experimentation results and possible prospects for development.

Ergonomics for Design, on the one hand, allows the project to be geared towards the real needs and expectations of contemporary users and to define new usage scenarios, starting from the research methods typical of traditional Ergonomics or Human Factors, and User-Centred Design. Design for Sustainability, on the other hand, thanks to criteria for predicting the environmental impact of products, directs design not only towards the rationalisation of the materials used for production, but above all towards reducing consumption and the environmental impact of products during use, favouring both the use of low-consumption technologies and renewable energy production, and solutions capable of guiding and raising awareness among domestic users on these issues.

Ergonomics for Design, on the one hand, allows the project to be geared towards the real needs and expectations of contemporary users and to define new usage scenarios, starting from the research methods typical of traditional Ergonomics or Human Factors, and User-Centred Design. Design for Sustainability, on the other hand, thanks to criteria for predicting the environmental impact of products, directs design not only towards the rationalisation of the materials used for production, but above all towards reducing consumption and the environmental impact of products during use, favouring both the use of low-consumption technologies and renewable energy production, and solutions capable of guiding and raising awareness among domestic users on these issues.