Aesthetics and

Ergonomics
- Siddharth Bhide

Aesthetics and Ergonomics

Aesthetics

is a branch of Product design which

deals with the look and feel of the product
Ergonomics is the branch of Product design which
deals with the human aspect of comfort and ease
of operation
Aesthetically perfect product need not necessarily
be Ergonomic and vice-versa
A product should be a balance of Aesthetics and
ergonomics, without altering its functionality.

Aesthetics
Definition:

Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the

nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the
creation and appreciation of beauty.

It is more scientifically defined as the study

of sensory or sensory-emotional values, sometimes
called judgments of sentiment and taste

Factors affecting Aesthetics:

Visual
Tactile

Olfactory
Auditory
Gustatory

Kinesthetic

: Sight (colour, contour, composition)

: Touch (texture, temperature, grip)
: Smell
: Sound
: Taste
: Motion

 Aesthetics,

mostly, deals
with the first visual
impression that an
object gives to the
viewer. This object may
be anything, a person, a
gadget, a painting etc. or
as in our case a clean,
well managed boiler
house.

We make aesthetic choices

everyday in things like
clothes, books, food, bikes
and
cars,
shoes,
deodorants, jewellery etc.

 Aesthetics

also depends on the environment of

the viewer
A person may have a one look for his office
furniture and completely opposite look for his
living room
A warm cup of tea will be very inviting in the rains
but the same cup of tea at the same place wont
be pleasurable on a hot summer afternoon

 So,

Aesthetic experience is not only about liking or

disliking, its about the interaction between the
product, consumer and the environment.
In a nutshell.
Aesthetics is all about the feel good factor
Now lets see some examples of aesthetics in our
daily work

Ergonomics
Definition:

Ergonomics is the study of designing

equipment and devices that fit the human body,
its movements, and its cognitive abilities.
Ergonomics is employed to fulfill the two goals of
health and productivity.
Proper ergonomic design is necessary to
prevent repetitive strain injuries, which can
develop over time and can lead to long-term
disability.

A simple daily example

 So, Ergonomics is basically the science in which

the workplace is made to suit the operator.

Here workplace not only means the table and
chair..but it also includes placement of the various
elements which are necessary to get a job done
like tools, job, controls etc.
Ergonomics plays a vital role in the design of
control panels, cockpits, workcenters etc.
Ergonomics is a highly specialised branch in the
automotive industry and consumer goods

Erogonomics in day-to day life

Now lets see

a few images which will throw more

light on Ergonomic design

Design of workplace

Ergonomics for us
In

our type of industry, Ergonomics plays a vital

role from the Boiler operators point of view. A
few examples are listed below
Control room: All the displays and visual alarms
should be placed at eye level. The eye level will
depend on whether the operator is sitting or
standing
The Visual displays should be clearly visible and
lighting in the room or the surroundings should be
such that there is no reflection or glare on the
displays

 All the levers, buttons, etc. in the control room,

which are hand operated should be placed below

shoulder level and above the waist level