Disable Workstation Development: A Multicompetence Approach to Human Behaviour Analysis

The aim of this paper is to report the analysis process adopted by an interdisciplinary team to understand human-product physical interaction in order to develop a PC workstation to be used by physically impaired people for their professional reintegration. In previous experiences [1] simple biomechanical measurements and electromyographic analysis were used to evaluate the physical stress connected to different workplace situations. In the present context we have chosen to apply to occupational ergonomics both a biomechanical and ethnographic approach and then correlate them in an integrated approach. The idea of merging qualitative and quantitative methods has become increasingly appealing in areas of applied research. As Human Machine Interfaces (HMI) and ergonomics are multifaceted issues it is important to approach them from different perspectives and to combine data coming from different methods. Multicompetence approach integrates different research methods into a research strategy [2] increasing the quality of final results and providing a more comprehensive understanding of the analyzed phenomena..