[design for better ergonomics]
The cleaning profession is a challenging occupation with heavy lifting, repetitive tasks and high pace. This is certainly true for the hotel industry and the cleaning of hotel rooms. The demands are high and stress and work related injuries are very common. The aim of this project was to develop a tangible product that could assist the cleaning personell of a hotel in their daily work and improve the ergonomics, leading to a better working environment.
To achieve this, a variety of design methods were used to analyze the existing work situation, develop and select concepts and to show the final result. Methods within the field of ergonomics, such as REBA, Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) and CW analysis where used to further develop the ideas and to ensure that the improvements would benefit the users.
The final product is a new nozzle and handle for a standard industry vacuum cleaner that enables the user to vacuum more areas without bending his or her back. With the new handle, the user can release the nozzle without having to bend forward. The new concept was further analyzed with the software Siemens Jack to confirm the improvements.
This project gave me an insight into the field of ergonomics and how design can be used to lead users to adopt new behaviors. I also got the opportunity to work with rapid prototyping and further develop my sketching technique.