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Workstation design
 The modern office, equipped with

computers, has little resemblance to the
rooms in which male clerks handwrote
entries in ledgers or penned letters a
century ago.
Outline
 Office workstation design
 The Computer
 Office lighting
 Glare
 Filters
 Keyboard design
 Designing the sit down workstation
 Standing computer workstation
 lab
Office workstation design
 An ergonomically designed office workstation depends upon.
 1) The visual interface. The operator has to look at the
keyboard, computer screen, printed output and source
documents (document holder).
 2) Manipulation: The hands operate the keys, a mouse,
manipulate a pen and paper, and hold a telephone or other
input devises. Sometimes the feet operate controls, such as a
dictation machine.
 3) Body support: the body is linked to the seat at the
undersides of the thighs and buttocks and at the back with
the backrest. Armrests or wrist rest make other support
links.
The Computer
 The number of keys on a computer can be as many
as 100, nearly double that of a typewriter.
 This requires the keyboard to be scanned, whereas,
typists do not need to look at the keyboard.
 The problem of placing all these displays
(computer, keyboard and source document) is
mostly one of available space within the centre of
the person’s field of view.
 Most people prefer to look downward at close
visual targets between angles of 20-60 degrees
below the eye-ear plane.
Office lighting
 Three lighting design factors are:
 Illumination: the amount of lighting falling on a surface.
The light may come from the sun or from lamps.
 Luminance: the amount of light reflected or emitted from a
surface. Light may be reflected from a ceiling, wall, or
tabletop, or it may be emitted from a VDT screen.
 The luminous contrast ratio describes the difference
between the luminance values of two adjacent areas,
assuming that there is a defined boundary between them.
Glare
 Light is reflected off surfaces usually the
wall and ceiling. Light is reflected at the
same angle it is received, on polished
surfaces.
 Avoid glare from the computer screen (no
bright lights in cone of vision), and direct
sunlight (use of blinds or dark curtains), or
artificial lighting.
Glare
 The colours of the room surface should be chosen so that
there is a decrease in reflectance from ceiling to floor.
 The ceiling shoulder 80-90% reflectance – accomplished
by white paint.
 The walls should be 40-60% - accomplished by bright
beige, yellow or green.
 The floors should have a reflectance of 20-40% such as
medium blue-green or brown –beige colours.
 Furniture and equipment should reflect somewhere
between 25-45%.
Filters
 Filters are used to control reflections that would
decrease the contrast between characters and the
rest of the screen.
 If coloured filters are used, they should match

the colour of the characters on the screen.
 Filters can affect the viewing angle for the

operator to the screen.
Keyboard design
 The common keyboard design is based upon the original
QWERTY type writer model.
 The following cause ergonomic problems.
 The keys are in a left – right alignment, where as the

fingers are not naturally aligned side by side.
 The keyboard must be operated in a pronated hand
position – thumbs down owing to the horizontal
arrangement of the rows of keys.
 Too many keys (100 or more).
Designing the sit down
workstation
Suggestions:
1) Seat height is determined from popliteal height – add
2cm for heels. Range of seat heights from floor 37-50cm.
2) Thigh thickness is added to calculate clearance height
underneath support structure. Add 2cm for thickness of
support structure – results in support surface heights of
53-70 cm.
3) Determine eye height above seat pan, considering actual
trunk and head posture.
4) From this figure of eye height, the centre height of the
display is determined, using values for the preferred
viewing distance and angle of sight. The height will be
between 93-122cm above the floor.
Seat pan
 The seat pan should have a cushioned surface than can
elastically or plastically adjust to the body’s contours.
 Height of seat pan must be widely adjustable - 37-58 cm

and easily administered while sitting in the chair.
 Usually the seat pan is flat, between 38-42 cm deep and at

least 45 cm wide. A well rounded front edge is mandatory.
 In the sagittal plane the seat can be horizontal or slightly

higher in the rear (opening hip angle up).
Back rest
 The back rest serves two purposes: to carry some of the
weight of the upper trunk and arms and to allow the
muscles to relax.
 The back rest should be as large as can possibly be

accommodated- up to 85 cm long and 30 cm wide.
 The back rest should support the head, neck, and follow
down to the lumbar region. It should therefore be shaped
to follow the contours of the back.
 An adjustable pad for supporting lumbar lordosis

situated at the foot of the backrest, from 15-23 cm high,
and if possible a cervical pad from 50-70 cm high placed
above the seat surface.
Arm rests - foot rests
 Arm rests:
 Supports weight of hands, arms and portions of
the upper trunk. They should be adjustable in
height, width and possibly direction.
 Footrest:
 If the seat pan cannot be sufficiently lowered for
the seated person, then a footrest is needed. The
footrest should be sufficiently larger enough to
support the foot and allow an optimal thigh angle.
Standing computer
workstations
 One way to change the working posture is to
have a standing computer work station.
 The stand up workstation should have an
adjustable height (between 90-120 cm) for elbow
height.
 The set up of the computer and work documents
should be similar to the sitting work station.
 A footrest at 2/3 knee height can be added (about
30 cm from the floor) to allow the operator to
adjust position.
Laboratory assignment
 Design your own set up for your computer
workstation.
 1) Draw a diagram of the design and label the

dimensions.
 2) Ensure you give the goals of the design,
height and limb dimensions of the operator.
 3) Describe your design giving ergonomic
reasons for the setup used.

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Workstation design

 The modern office, equipped with

 If coloured filters are used, they should match

 Filters can affect the viewing angle for the

 The keys are in a left – right alignment, where as the

 Height of seat pan must be widely adjustable - 37-58 cm

 Usually the seat pan is flat, between 38-42 cm deep and at

 In the sagittal plane the seat can be horizontal or slightly

 The back rest should be as large as can possibly be

 An adjustable pad for supporting lumbar lordosis

 1) Draw a diagram of the design and label the

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