PROCEEDINGS of the HUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS SOCIETY 45th ANNUAL MEETING - 2001 801 Bridging The Gap Between Human Factors and Environmental Design: A Universal Bathroom Case Study Abir Mullick Associate Professor of Architecture RERC on Universal Design State University of New York at Buffalo This user-centered design project highlights the importance of human factors in product development. It introduces two adjustable bathrooms, Movable Fixtures Bathroom and Movable Panels Bathroom, which resulted from this research and design project. Unlike existing bathrooms, which are designed primarily for independent users, these bathrooms consider the needs of the human life cycle and address dependent use and care-providing alongside independent use in the bathroom. These bathrooms reflect the social and inclusive philosophy of universal design and they have the potential to unify diverse population groups so no one user is excluded by their design. Introduction Aceording to Sanders and McCormick, human factors focuses on human beings and their interaction with products, equipment, facilities, procedures, and environments in work and everyday living, The emphasis, in human factors, is placed on human beings and on how the design of things influences people. It questions the things people use and strives to change environments in which people use these things to better match the capabilities, limitations and needs of people, While the discipline of human factors is design-focused, human factors specialists seldom engage in the design of things and environments. Produets and places and designed by specially trained product designers and architects, and they either use human factors information or work closely with human factors specialists in ensuring that designs are usable by people. Manufacturers and builders rely on design teams, consisting of professional designers and human factors specialists, to ensure that manufactured products and constructed buildings are usable by human beings. Most human factors specialists are trained scientists, engaged in scientific investigation about human capabilities, limitations, characteristics, behavior and motivation, to discover relevant information about humans and their responses to things, environments, systems and information. The result of their investigations offers a basis for ‘making design recommendations and for predicting the probable effects of various design alternatives. Human factors specialists also evaluate designs to ensure that they satisfy their intended objectives. Product designers and architects are creative individuals, engaged in the form making process of products and buildings, the primary users of their designs being human beings. While most designers are sensitive to human needs, they are not trained to conduct investigation into human requirements and considerations. They can find human factors information, know how to apply them, and they rely on the work of human factors specialists for theit expert guidance. In situations that require critical fit between users and designs, designers team up with ‘human factors specialists to produce designs that best fit users and maximize efficiency Universal Bathroom, a human factors and environmental design project, employed human factors techniques to study bathroom use by independent users, dependent users and caregivers, and employed user-centered design approach to develop bathrooms usable by a wide range of users. Alexander Kira (1963) researched sociological aspects of bathroom use by independent users to develop two theoretical bathroom designs, one with shower and another with a bathtub. Kira’s project did not employ scientific or empirical method and it did not include dependent users and caregivers in determining bathroom information and design. The Bathroom for the Elderly, a design project by Robert Graffe (Singer, 1988), focused on transforming a bedroom closet into a bathroom for802 PROCEEDINGS of the HUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS SOCIETY 45th ANNUAL MEETING - 2001 ‘elderly users and people with disabilities so as to reduce trip distance and offer convenience. Metaform Bathroom, developed by Design Continuum for Herman Miller, consisted of modular components to address people's change of needs overtime. It was designed to blend with existing architecture and details, and reduce labor and cost to install, maintain and repair. The Universal Bathroom project first employed an empirical method to develop human factors information of bathroom use by a wide range of people living at home. The human factors information was then employed to conceptualize ‘wo universal bathrooms. The bathroom development constantly involved user experts so as to ensure that that these environments offered best user-environment fit and a high degree of user customization. Method Bathroom is the most critical room in the home. It is the most frequently used room in the hhome and everyone uses it. Bathroom users are people of all ages, of various statures and of many types of physical conditions. They are independent users or those who operate on the own, dependent users or those who need assistance, and caregivers cor those who assist dependent users. Bathroom usability is greatly affected by bathroom design and hhuman factors of bathroom users. Gender differences, use pattern and personal habits impact, usability. Environmental considerations such as fixture design, fixture placement and spatial layout add to the complexity of bathroom use. With built- in heating, plumbing and drain technology, bathroom is the most technological and inflexible environment in the home. Unlike other technological environments such as the automobile, the bathroom is a static environment in which the environment does not adjust to user demands. Bathroom users vary greatly in age, shape and physical condition, and they need to constantly adjust their posture and use pattern to suit the environmental demands of the bathroom, Environmental fit in the bathroom, a state of ‘equilibrium where an individual's capabilities are in balance with the demands of the environment, is ctitical to the maintaining privacy, dignity and independence and everyone aspire for best fit, since bathroom independence is affected by this fit Unfortunately, many people, due to the inflexible nature of bathroom designs, are unable to attain this fit and they are unable to maintain bathroom independence. They experience a loss of self- confidence and personal esteem. The human factors research in the Universal bathroom project employed empirical method to study whether accessible bathrooms are universal and if they benefit many user groups. Two full-scale bathrooms, one was accessible (code complying) and the other conventional (not within code compliance), were simulated to evaluate their design effectiveness. Specialized measurement tools developed by Edward Steinfeld and Gary Scott Danford (1997) were used to systematically evaluate performance and observe their impact on functional independence. The research involved a broad range of users living at home that included people with mobility impairments, elderly, young, adults, children, pregnant women and overweight people. Five sets of attributes typically addressed in accessibility standards were systematically varied to provide two distinct levels of challenge as contexts for the subjects’ performance. Three measurement tools, Enviro-FIM, Usability Rating System and Functional Performance Measure were employed to collect data on functional performance. These tools were used to 1) obtain self-reports on the ease or difficulty of a person's functional performance of entering, toileting, grooming, bathing and exiting, 2) assess a person's functional independence during performance of these activities, 3) assess a person's level of effort expended toward functional performance of these activities, 4) assess a caregiver's burden in assisting the person when functional independence is compromised, and 5) distinguish differences across bathroom environments with varying conditions of environmental demand. Bathroom use was documented using videotape and the data was analyzed as numerical scores. The development process of the Universal Bathroom project employed unique environmental design strategy to bridge the gap between human factors information and environment design. First, bbuman factors research identified and involved