Citation

Bergquist K, Abeysekera JD. Int. J. Ind. Ergonomics 1996; 18(4): 269-275.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In order to develop usable products, human needs and requirements have to be taken into consideration. By employing the QFD (Quality Function Deployment) method the human needs are systematically matched with the product characteristics, which can help to improve the product quality. In this paper the use of QFD in the area of ergonomics is discussed and a case study is presented. The QFD method was used in the case study to translate the needs of safety shoe users in the cold climate into product characteristics. The QFD analysis of the safety shoes revealed that the characteristics of the steel toecap were receiving the highest overall weighting, which means that improving the design of the steel toecap would lead to higher customer satisfaction.