Ergonomics and Human Centric Foodservice Designs

It is time to go back to the topic of ergonomics.

One of the first ergonomists was Leonardo DaVinci.  I am sure most of us have seen the very famous picture of his Ergonomic Man, a modern version of which is attached to this post. One of DaVinci’s keen artistic talents was his ability to really focus on the details of the human body, studying with great care all of its physical aspects. Paired with his other talents this allowed DaVinci to create statues that almost came to life. Similarly, while working through our foodservice-oriented tasks, such as designing a work station, piece of equipment, kitchen or an entire restaurant, we can apply the same ergonomic principle: Designs should start with the human being as the center of the effort.

It is absolutely critical to think about the capabilities of human beings throughout your design efforts. As designers, we constantly need to be aware that it’s the employees who allow us to help the concepts deliver their brand promise. And that is why employee centric designs facilitate the delivery of customer service and hospitality, which result in the sales and profits that fuel the growth of individual concepts. While working through the design process, be sure to consider the anthropometric characteristics of the human beings that will use it. These are the physical characteristics of the individuals, including their reach, line-of-sight and movements.  

Consider how the individual will use a specific piece of equipment or their work content in a specific space and understand a person’s natural limitations. In other words, don’t make employees extend beyond their normal reach and keep their line of sight clear so they can see what they are doing. Following these ergonomic principles will result in a much more robust and efficient design, driving gains in productivity, let alone reductions in employee fatigue as the employees are using it. The bottom line is that employee-centric designs will result in higher productivity.

The challenging aspect of ergonomic application, however, is that no two human beings are the same and we have to deal with different populations. So we must understand that one size does not fit all and that designing for all human conditions usually becomes cost prohibitive. That’s why when designing, it is important to choose a target population and decide to use these anthropometric characteristics of this population as the design target. For example, you may choose to use the tall male for line-of-sight analysis, while a short female, for the reaches. Word of caution: don’t get frustrated if you cannot design for all populations. Instead, realize that when you apply even a bit of sound ergonomic analysis, you are facilitating the use of the device to the employee.

Similarly, as you start pulling together the individual pieces of equipment that will comprise a workstation, consider the adjacencies between these devices, how the employees will use the space and the paths they will take coming to and from the space to complete their work.  The goal in such an effort is to reduce all unnecessary movements. An integral part of this exercise is to consider the menu, including the processes and procedures necessary to deliver the optimum product. Make sure you take an integrated approach to the design, accounting for all the operating parameters. Considering employee ergonomic characteristics and limitations, will result in the design of better concepts, better pieces of equipment, better layouts.

I get surprised many times, when I look at some kitchens and how devices are put together; almost in a haphazard way, without consideration to the individual ergonomics characteristics, nor the processes and procedures. And we are expecting the crew to be able to use it efficiently.

In closing include in the design process consideration and analysis of the physical ergonomics of the employee that will be using the design. Doing so allows you develop a better design – one that can deliver higher level of profits through optimized customer hospitality and better service to the guests.  At the end of the day, this is how you grow the brand.  The application of ergonomics supports the development of “the right design” vs. developing “just another design.”

In my next bog, I am going to touch on “cognitive ergonomics.”  This area that deals with the information processing capabilities of the human being, another critical area in equipment and concept design.