COMFORT and DESIGN: Principles and Good Practice

COMFORT and DESIGN: Principles and Good Practice

Ergonomics

machines and airplane tickets. Discomfort is a predictor of musculoskeletal injuries
and should be reduced in situations that consume a significant part of our time.
However, there is no such thing as a general notion of comfort or discomfort.
Therefore, the end user of a product must be involved in research on comfort.
If managed correctly, this end-user involvement leads to profitable results, which is
demonstrated in several cases in this book.
This book supports managers, designers, and researchers in designing products
and work stations to increase sales (by increasing comfort) and to reduce musculoskeletal injuries (by reducing discomfort). Both theory and good practice in regard
to comfort and discomfort are described for the first time in one book. Examples
come from Japan, the United States, Sweden, Germany, and The Netherlands.
The reader is introduced to the latest developments in theories on comfort and
which factors should be studied in order to optimize comfort in the workplace
(Chapters 1, 2, and 3). The reader also benefits from the latest knowledge on how
to involve participants in comfort research and set up a project (Chapter 4). In
Chapters 5 through 22, eighteen cases that are described in detail illustrate how
discomfort is reduced in a design process, or how comfort is improved. The costs
and benefits of comfort products are discussed in Chapter 23.

Peter Vink

www.crcpress.com

CRC PRESS

2005

J.C. Beckers
RET, The Netherlands
T. Bosch
TNO Work and Employment,
The Netherlands
R.E. Bronkhorst
TNO Work and Employment,
The Netherlands
F.K. Cheung
Delft University of Technology,
The Netherlands
R.C. Davies
Lund University, Sweden
M.C. Dekker
Delft University of Technology,
The Netherlands
P.M.A. Desmet
Delft University of Technology,
The Netherlands
J. van Deursen
TNO Industrial Technology,
The Netherlands
J.H. van Dieën
Vrije University, The Netherlands
J.P. Djajadiningrat
Eindhoven University of Technology,
The Netherlands
S.M. Eikhout
TNO Work and Employment,
The Netherlands
G. Fujimaki
Waseda University, Japan
M.P. van der Grinten
TNO Work and Employment,
The Netherlands
L. Groenesteijn
TNO Work and Employment,
The Netherlands
M.D. Hagedoorn-de Groot
TNO Work and Employment,
The Netherlands
B.J.A. van Haperen
Delft University of Technology,
The Netherlands
A.M. de Jong
Delft University of Technology,
The Netherlands
S. Kishi
Waseda University, Japan
M.A.J. Kompier
University of Nijmegen,
The Netherlands
T. König
Tytecker, The Netherlands
E.A.P. Koningsveld
TNO Work and Employment,
The Netherlands
F. Krause
TNO Work and Employment,
The Netherlands
L.F.M. Kuijt-Evers
TNO Work and Employment,
The Netherlands
S.H. Lee
University of Tsukuba, Japan
M.P. de Looze
TNO Work and Employment,
The Netherlands
R. Mitsuya
Waseda University, Japan
H.F. van der Molen
Arbouw, The Netherlands
S. Nichols
University of Nottingham,
United Kingdom
K. Noro
Waseda University, Japan
D.S.C. Osinga
TNO Work and Employment,
The Netherlands
C.J. Overbeeke
Eindhoven University of Technology,
The Netherlands
K. Reijneveld
TNO Work and Employment,
The Netherlands
J.W. van Rhijn
TNO Work and Employment,
The Netherlands
I.A. Ruiter
Delft University of Technology,
The Netherlands
N. Schoenmaker
TNO Work and Employment,
The Netherlands
J. Stahre
Chalmers University, Sweden
T. Tereoka
Waseda University, Japan
G.H. Tuinzaad
TNO Industrial Technology,
The Netherlands
A.A. Visser
Delft University of Technology,
The Netherlands
J. Visser
Delft University of Technology,
The Netherlands
L. Vormer
Delft University of Technology,
The Netherlands

English