Human Factors of erogonmics

Designing for people.

Ergonomics is about designing for people that interactive with products, processes or systems. We usually do not think about the design process of the product we are using unless it is a bad design! Therefore this is evidence that the majority of products we interactive with in our every day lives are indeed well thought out and all the human factors have been considered.

"The design compliments the strength and ability of people, rather than enforcing them to adopt."

For the Handle I will apply the following ergonomics's                                       

• Easy to use
• Comfortable
• Safe
• Efficient
• Clear instruction.
• Non-slip
• Size and thickness/comfort
• Material
• Functionality
• Visually stimulating

Interaction with the product must be engaging, harmoniously by stimulating the senses while eating and using smell and sound to generate emotion.




Reference
Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors/2013/Human Factors of ergonomics
http://www.ergonomics.org.uk/01/03/13

OTHER IDEAS

Other Ideas

I have been drawing up lots of ideas and looking at my inspiration board. I want to explore a design that relates to the name of the restaurant "The Fat Duck".

From class I have learnt that the visual part of the design is the most important over functionality. Although a product may function well and serve its purpose, if it is ugly then it is not successful.

So I am now looking at the visual part of the design. I am going to explore the shape of a duck and use the lovely natural flow of those outlines to use in my design.

Pictures of my sketches to follow in next post.

HESTONS DISH

Now that looks amazing!!! A dish from Heston Blumenthal.......so inventive

EXPLORING THE FORK DESIGN IN MORE DETAIL

Exploring the fork design adding little stimulator's to a smooth ball that tickle the tongue. The ball would be made of hard plastic with little rubber spikes along it that would rub on the tongue when you place food in the mouth.

SKETCHES OF IDEAS

THE PITCH

The Pitch

Stimulation the senses through eating.

Exploring the five factors that affects taste;
Temperature
Colour
Texture
Volume/weight
Exploring the synesthesia - the eating experience can be enriched in multi cross wire ways. It should not just be a tool that we eat with but an extension of our body.

Becoming more aware of how we eat may encourage people to adopt healthier eating habits such as consuming less and eating slower.
As children we are taught to use our mouths and tongues to eat, this a process we all go through that many of us would not know. For some kids with Autism and hypersensitivity eating can be a problem and a solution for this is to introduce oral toys that can be put into the mouth. These toys stimulate the senses of the mouth and encourage chewing.

With adults many of us are guilty with gulping down our food, this is certainly not what Heston wants you to experience while eating his food.

So I wonder if it is possible to bring back those senses by designing cutlery that would awaking our mouth senses and also encourage slower eating.

ROULETTE SHOW AND PRESENT

Roulette show and present

After presenting my previous ideas and discussing with my lecture we came across some problems with my design. First with the sound chip that would be inside the handles. This could lose its effect in a room as it could be muffled out by other sounds around it. Secondly the smell chip may also be mixed with the smell of other food. I decided to scrap the idea but still stay loyal to my idea of stimulating the sense.

Research: - http://www.thefatduck.co.uk

Taking nothing for granted and using a scientific approach to cooking.
1995 The Fat Duck opened in a 450 year old pub in Bray.
Physicist Dr Peter Baraham introduced Heston to Professor Tony Blake who became a loose network of scientists and academics that developed the restaurant. They researched: How the brain influences our appreciation of food.
So I think that the cutlery must have a scientific aspect to it to make it engaging and fitting for Heston's restaurant.