• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.34-40
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• 2002

In the past, the important factors of buying the sports shoes for the customers were price and comfort. However these days, the sports shoes are considered as a part of fashion and may not satisfy the customers because their emotional preference have not been properly considered in design phase. The customers' desire and expectation for unique design are growing. Thus, the development of sports shoes not only considering the anthropometric foot characteristics but also satisfying the customers emotional preference is needed. In this study, the basic data on the customer's emotional preference to the design of sports shoes were obtained using human sensibility ergonomics approach and formed a data base. Also, we developed ail interface that can be used for the customers to select the emotionally preferred sports shoes.

• Proceedings of the ESK Conference
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• 1994.04a
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• pp.75-84
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• 1994

A control panel layout method based on the constraint satisfaction problem(CSP) technique was developed to generate an ergonomically sound panel design. This control panel layout method attempts to incorporate a variety of relevant ergonomic principles and design constrains, and generate an optimal or, at least, a "satisfactory" solution through the efficient search algorithm. The problem of seeking an ergonomically sound panel design should be viewed as a multiple criteria problem, and most of the design objectives should be understood as constraints. Hence, a CSP technique was employed in this study for dealing with the multi-constraiants layout problem. The efficient search algorithm using "preprocess" and "look ahead" procedures was developed to handle the vast amount of computational effort. In order to apply the CSP technique to the panel layout procedure, the ergonomic principles such as spatial compatibility, frequency-of- use, importance, functional grouping, and sequence-of-use were formalized as CSP terms. The effectiveness of the developed panel layout method was evaluated by example problems, and the results clearly showed that the generated layouts took various ergonomic design principles into account.esign principles into account.

• Journal of the Korea Furniture Society
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.235-242
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• 2008

Increasing consumers' individuality and their desire of revelation, owing to accumulation of economic wealth, are making furniture designs more differentiated and various in its method and theme. Trends of contemporary furniture designs are changing from pursuing the functional efficiency of mere usage of their product in the past to satisfying the desire of consumers with full consideration of their emotional aspects, that is, the design that helps consumers communicate with products. In these trends, it is necessary to analyze the emotional factor of consumers for the examination of their emotional desire and apply its analysis to the furniture design.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.1166-1171
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• 2004

In this study, the concept of autonomous mobility is applied to a gait support mobile robot. The aim of the development of the service robot is to assist the elderly with gait rehabilitation. This study proposes an ergonomic service robot design parameter. The gait assistant path pattern is derived from analysis of the elderly gait. A lever is installed in the AMR in order to measure both the pulling force and the leading force of the elderly. The path generation of the mobile robot is developed through consideration and analysis of elderly gait patterns. The ergonomic design parameters (dimensions, action scope and working space) are determined based on moving scope of the elderly. The gait assistant mobile robot was offered the elderly guide service and internet service based on the ergonomic design parameters.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.145-156
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• 2017

Objective: This study aims to compare the usability of the adaptive touch design method with that of the height adjustable design method that are applied to the Korean QWERTY keyboard and Naratgul keyboard on smartphones, examine the results, and present practical implications. Background: Smartphone manufacturers have failed to satisfy every user with their uniform touch keyboard designs that do not consider the high use rates of keypad use. In reality, touch keyboard designing customized for every individual is impossible, but there need to be researches on was to improve usability by having touch areas changed automatically depending on user behaviors or having users adjust the keyboard height depending on their hand size. Method: As for the design methods, an object group was given smartphones with the adaptive touch design method and the other group those with the height adjustable design method. As they entered the same characters in the smartphones, typing error rates and text input speed were measured and the average values were compared. 35 individuals who would frequently use smartphones in daily life participated in the experiment. The group variable was the type of touch keyboards, and the test variables were typing error rates and text input speed, for which a T-test was implemented. Results: As for the QWERTY keyboard, the significant improvement effect was verified as the typing error rate of the adaptive touch design method was 4.21% but that of the height adjustable design method was 3.28% although there was no significant difference in terms of text input speed. As for the Naratgul keyboard, in contrast, the typing error rate of the adaptive touch design method was 2.5% while that of the height adjustable design method was 1.48%, which indicates a measure of improvement, but the effect was not significant. On the other hand, the text input speed per minute was improved as much as 22.2%, which is significant. Conclusion: First, the Korean touch keyboard usability of the adaptive touch design method and that of the height adjustable design method, when applied to Model A of Company L, showed significant difference from each other. Second, the height adjustable design method was applied to the QWERTY keyboard, the typing error rate was improved significantly. This indicates that as the keyboard height was raised, the number of buttons within the range of fingering decreased, decreasing the touch bias was reduced. Third, the height adjustable design method was applied to the Naratgul keyboard, the text input speed was improved. Application: When the QWERTY keyboard was applied to a smartphone as small as 5.5inch or less, it is highly probably that the height adjustable design method decreases the typing error rate. It may be considered to develop additional UX functions to make the keyboard font larger or give users the option to adjust button intervals in utilization of the SW advantages of the height adjustable design method.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.261-269
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• 2012

Objective: The aim of this study is to develop an analysis method to extract plausible types of errors when using a smart mobile in nuclear power plants. Background: Smart mobiles such as a smart-phone and a tablet computer(smart-pad) are to be introduced to the various industries. Nuclear power plant like APR1400 already adopted many up-to-date digital devices within its main control room. With this trend, various types of smart mobiles will be inevitably introduced to the nuclear field in the near future. However nuclear power plants(NPPs) should be managed considering a big risk as a result of the trend not only economically but also socially compared to the other industrial systems. It is formally required to make sure to reasonably prevent the all hazards due to the introduction of new technologies and devices before the application to the specific tasks in nuclear power plants. Method: We define interaction segments(IS) as a main architect of interaction description, and enumerate all plausible error segments(ES) for a part of design evaluation of digital devices. Results: We identify various types of interaction errors which are coped with reasonably by interaction design using smart mobiles. Conclusion: According to the application result of the proposed method, we conclude that the proposed method can be utilized to specify the requirements to the human error hazards in digital devices, and to conduct a human factors review during the design of digital devices. Application: The proposed method can be applied to predict the human errors of the tasks related to the digital devices; therefore we can ensure the safety to apply the digital devices to be introduced to NPPs.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.9-21
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• 2017

Objective: The objective of this study is to understand the effect of angle and curvature of push-return switches, which are external factors in the operation environment inside the cars, on the feel of operation and to propose optimum alternatives. Background: Customers' needs for products are changing from functional and performance aspects to customer-led type where customers can reflect on their needs on the products. The operation inside cars is executed by HMI. The push-return switch is utilized as the most intuitive mode of HMI; therefore, this push-return switch, which is widely used, has to be developed by assessing the preference and satisfaction of the customer. Method: The angle and curvatures, which are external factors that affect the feel of operation, are drawn through surveying the preceding research literatures. The stages to construct alternatives in experiments are as follows: (1) the tactile switch is replaced after dismantling the switch assembly to evaluate the internal characteristics proposed by preceding researches, (2) a drawing is prepared by using a design software, is printed using 3D printer, and then it is attached on the switch assembly, and (3) evaluation for satisfaction of operation is carried out by using a driving simulator. Results: Both the angle and curvature that are external factors of switch significantly affect the feel of operation. However, interaction between the two factors is found insignificant. Therefore, an optimum alternative is proposed considering the experimental outcomes. Conclusion: This study evaluates the satisfaction in operation that affects the feel of operation environment inside the cars. Based on the study results, a guideline for switch design in the center fascia is proposed. Application: This study is expected to be used as basic data for designing automotive switches, as well as switches in the industries similar with the operation environments of cars.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.771-782
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• 2010

Today, the number of elderly drivers who use navigation is increasing with the growing number of elderly drivers. The purpose of this study is to provide guidelines on the interface of car navigation for elderly users. To extract significant factors which were distinguished between young and elderly users, both young and elderly users executed the driving test by installing two car navigation alternatives. The analysis was conducted through t-test. The results show that significantly different factors were the number and the meaning of the menu items in the initial screen, the location and the meaning of the menu icons in the map screen, the ease of search of the menu and the text size in the menu screen. Improvements for the factors of the initial screen and map screen were made with reference to ergonomic guidelines, and suggested through experiments comparing design alternatives for the menu screen. Design alternatives were made through a combination of investigative variables, and the analysis was conducted through ANOVA. The results show that Alternative 7 (the location of the tab was placed at the bottom, menu representation was done with the text font size of 18pt and the location of menu navigation icons was shown at the upper left) was preferred in terms of user's preference and the execution time. So if the suggested menu for elderly users are added to the existing design, both users will satisfy their desires. The guidelines suggested in this study will help the designer of car navigation take elderly users into consideration.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.191-198
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• 2015

Objective: As a cue for desired mood, we attempted to identify types of sitting postures when people are involved in various tasks during their working hours. Background: Physical behaviors in reaction to user contexts were studied, such as automated posture analysis for detecting a subject's emotion. Sitting postures have high feasibility and can be detected robustly with a sensing chair, especially when it comes to an office. Method: First, we attached seven sensors, including six pressure sensors and one distance sensor, to an office chair. In Part 1, we recorded participants' postures while they took part in four different tasks. From the seven sensors, we gathered five sets of data related to the head, the lumbar, the hip, thigh pressure and the distance between the backrest and the body. We classified them into four postures: leaning forward, upright, upright with the lumbar supporting, and leaning backward. In part 2, we requested the subjects to take suitable poses for the each of the four task types. In this way, we compared the matches between postures and tasks in a natural setting to those in a controlled situation. Results: We derived four types of sitting postures that were mapped onto the different tasks. The comparison yielded no statistical significance between Parts 1 and 2. In addition, there was a significant association between the task types and the posture types. Conclusion: The users' sitting postures were related to different types of tasks. This study demonstrates how human emotion can interact with lighting, as mediated through physical behavior. Application: We developed a posture-based lighting system that manipulates the quality of office lighting and is operated by changes in one's posture. Facilitated by this system, color temperatures ranging between 3,000K and 7,000K and illuminations ranging between 300lx and 700lx were modulated.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.97-108
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• 2014

Objective:The present study is intended to evaluate the usability of a console chair for a weapon locating radar by comparing with different kinds of chair design. Background: Console chairs need to be ergonomically designed to reduce physical workload of operators and improve mission capability; few studies have been reported which systematically evaluate usability of military console chairs. Method: Ergonomic design of a console chair, a bus seat, and an office chair was evaluated in terms of headrest, seatback, seatpan, armrest, and controller on a 7-point scale. Ten males in their 20s and 30s were recruited considering the demographic characteristics of console operators. Results: The satisfaction scores of the console chair for headrest, seatback, and seatpan were significantly higher than those of the bus seat (mean difference [MD] = 0.9) and office chair (MD = 1.3). Meanwhile, the satisfaction scores of the console chair for armrest and controller were significantly lower than those of the office chair (MD = -1.4) and bus seat (MD = -2.2). Conclusion: The armrest and controller of the console chair needs ergonomic improvements for better comfort. Application: The evaluation results of the console chair would be of use for ergonomic console chair design.