Scaling problems in the design of work spaces for human use

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses scaling problems in the design of work spaces for human use. In the pre-industrial times, workplaces are more likely to be hand crafted for the user by the user; these had a reasonably good chance of being effective. Currently, workplaces are almost always designed by experts for masses of users. Workplaces involve simplified solutions. Workplaces accommodate the variety of human body dimensions, actions, and intentions present. In an increasingly technological world, where the characteristic work activity is a seated human operator in front of some kind of computerized display, such lack of fit can no longer be tolerated. The workplace must be more responsive moving closer to embody the requisite variety characterizing the user-task system. The methods and findings addressed in the chapter provide a potentially useful and effective means of approaching this goal.

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