Products begin as intangible desires and are developed towards becoming tangible interactions for experiences. Ergonomic and visual aspects of a product create those tangible boundaries where the product concept and its electromechanical aspects, become outwardly expressed ... interactive. They are the qualities through which the user of the product participates with the product, and actually has the intended experiences defined by the design research.

The ergonomic attributes are those defined by widely accepted, scientifically quantifiable, sensory limits intended to maximize the safety, comfort and efficiency of a product. The visual aspects then focus on form, color, and graphic elements defined by target market preferences that communicate that market’s desired experiences. Naturally the two areas overlap as well, both directly and indirectly.

Although ergonomic, visual, manufacturing and functional issues are all important, a priority among them often appears, along a range of possibility for change as development continues. Typically the manufacturing and functional requirements are the most difficult to change and therefore dominate the design, ergonomics are in the middle range of flexibility, and the visual aspects become the most elastic. These relationships will vary from project to project, but they always show the importance of a designer’s ability to understand and influence each area in order to maintain the design intent.

There are innumerable issues to be covered within the realm of ergonomics, which is why the most effective, and larger, companies have their own internal ergonomic research groups to specialize in this aspect of product development. Safety becomes an issue of legal and moral responsibility, along with being a valuable advertising tool. Designers can be held legally liable for the experiences they create, regardless of their intention, so it is important to look beyond just the common sense issues.

Some areas to be respectful of (all of the following are relative to gender, race and age): physical stability, stacking restrictions, the limits, both upper and lower, of all five senses, all biomechanical limits including angles and distances, pinch points (any exposed moving parts), repetitive stress syndrome, biohazard protection (medical), all forms of radiation (heat, electromagnetic field, x ray, etc.), subtleties between ‘child proof’ and ‘elderly accessible’, access opening forces (lids, latches, doors, drawers), button sizes and location (suitable to the situation), disaster proofness (fire, earthquake, flood), needs of the differently abled ... and more that blend into the area of visual aspects.

The field of ergonomics for a designer may be seen as having three components: research, regulations, and application. Research is generally the most interesting and influential area for a designer, followed closely by the application of that research towards a given product. The significant regulatory parts of it are typically left to the client’s resources, because they are the ones taking the primary legal liability for the product. A designer should consult the client about any specific product restrictions. There are many books to find the most widely accepted standards though, such as the Henry Dreyfuss human factors books.

Although ergonomic benefits and visually desired forms do not always blend together effortlessly, there are direct relationships created. Interface areas often have softer forms while functional areas will have more geometric shapes. Other examples include the rounded palm contours of computer screen pointing devices, the angles and profiles of body support areas in furniture, the detail level of toys relative to a child’s age and dexterity, or the waistline of a cello that allows clearance for the bow to glide at the various required angles. Leading more indirectly towards the purely visual product attributes are some notable transition subjects. Texture is one that was mentioned previously, as it can apply both to creating safer grip areas, and to graphic separations of light and dark areas within a single surface material. Color is another cross topic in some cases, as in people’s perception of color meanings, like the color red not indicating ‘emergency stop’ to all people. Color blindness then is also important, which is why traffic stoplights have three lenses. Another sight issue is that of color depth perception. Blue lights, for example seem further away, and red lights appear closer than they actually are ... which is why airports are cautious about their use of blue lights to mark runways at night, and one reason car tail lights are red.

Graphics are also an important intermediate area. There are issues about safety warning labels, nonlinguistic icons for intercultural markets, instruction guides, and the enormous topic on its own of video interfaces and multimedia applications. There are massive graphic design efforts going into the development of software that will appeal to this growing generation of ‘screenagers’. Knowing that the human eye is more effective at picking objects in the horizontal direction than the vertical is a key factor, for example. Or further, do you know why our eyes see things backwards in a mirror but not upside down? (Ask your physics teacher that one.)

Before all of the ergonomic, textural and graphic elements are recognized though, an object first relates its true nature through its general physical form. Recognition of form stimulates desires and defines expectations for an object’s ability to satisfy those desires ... how well its function follows its form. This is true for human beings as well as products, which is why many products are given visually human qualities. Ferraris, for example, sell primarily for their testosterone appeal ... knowing that their target market of wealthy males desire qualities of youthful strength, speed and control of a female object. So their designers ensure that the form of each car will activate those desires by combining feminine curves with masculine proportions. Naturally then, the car’s power and handling create the experiences that satisfy those emotional desires.

Fulfilling desires through form requires inspiration based on visual research such as magazine picture ‘mood boards’ of both current cultural imagery, and timeless, globally human expressions of those desired qualities. A designer must develop concepts using emotional languages ... understanding the vocabularies of poetry, music, strength, dance, fun, sculpture, romance, painting, danger, theater, humor, nature, mythical archetypes ... of new contexts. Creating a ‘durable looking’ hand held product will require not only a visual review of modern off-road vehicles, underwater photography gear, outdoor adventure equipment and military machinery ... but also exploring how nature itself defines ‘durable’ through massive rock formations, rugged tree bark textures, the sturdy foot proportions of heavy land animals and the exoskeleton structures of underwater crustaceans. It is the knowledge of harmony and rhythm, motion, perception, the way the eye flows uninterrupted around a form, consistency, intuition of operation, activation of memories, the control of form, proportion, structure, color and texture, positive and negative space interactions, vertical and horizontal profile relationships, characteristics of private versus public, and so on.

All of these considerations become increasingly important as the designer continues a form’s refinement. There are three levels of visually experiencing an object, or ‘reading’ it, that occur in sequence related to time and distance ... the more time and less distance, the more that can be read. The instantaneous, first read of an object is an overview of its main colors and form, including its general profile, scale and geometry. The second read then, is more directed view of the object to look at the specific form proportions and intersections, and to begin identifying relationships and purpose in colors and shapes. Finally, the inquisitive third read will reveal details such as corner radii, graphic icons, subtleties of complex curvatures, textural differences, parting lines and interaction points. In this way, objects invite us to know them more intimately, to connect with them so that they might speak to our emotional desires.

The psychology of people connecting with products is the basis for generating ‘families’ of products that speak the same design language at all three levels of ‘read’. A design language is not usually a narrow list of geometric shapes, graphic standards and corner radii specs, but rather a general arena of form consistency that is maintained over time. It is a strategic level of value that industrial design can add by repetitiously creating brand recognition that reminds people of their positive past experiences with that company’s products.

The ergonomic and visual attributes of a product require constant sensitivity, responsibility, and refinement. Their quality is critical, as the boundary of interaction between a product and its user, to create the complete experience desired. A product’s beautiful, durable, or high tech form may initially invite someone to use it, while the intuitiveness, comfort and safety of its function contribute to their continuing to use it.