Challenges for the Consideration of Ergonomics in Product Development in the Swedish Automotive Industry – An Interview Study

DS 116: Proceedings of the DESIGN2022 17th International Design Conference

Year: 2022
Editor: Mario Štorga, Stanko Škec, Tomislav Martinec, Dorian Marjanović
Author: Estela Perez Luque, Erik Brolin, Dan H
Series: DESIGN
Institution: University of Sk
Section: Industrial Design
Page(s): 2155-2164
DOI number: https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2022.218
ISSN: 2732-527X (Online)

Abstract

This paper presents an interview study aiming to understand the state of the art of how ergonomics designers work in the vehicle development process within the Swedish automotive industry. Ten ergonomic designers from seven different companies participated in the interview study. Results report the ergonomics designers' objectives, workflow, tools, challenges, and ideal work performance tool. We identify four main gaps and research directions that can enhance the current challenges: human behavior predictions, simulation tool usability, ergonomics evaluations, and integration between systems.

Keywords: vehicle, ergonomics, human-centred design, simulation-based design, digital human modelling