Digital human model based participatory design method to improve work tasks and workplaces

The objective of this research project was to improve manual work tasks and workplace design with a new digital human model based design method. The idea of the method was to make the design and analyze of work and workplaces easy for floor level development case. It also should to be exploitable in the context of participatory design approach. The developed method was implemented on a production design simulation platform. It was designed to be used in design of human factors, performance and functionality of a production concurrently. The implemented tool includes basic human motions which exploit real human motion data, effective work design features to easily generate variational solutions, embedded ergonomic analyses and checklists to help analyzing different work environment solutions, and to document the design outcome. Four industrial case studies were completed with the tool. The results show that the tool is feasible for individual and group design work, and has positive impacts on the design process and on the way how individuals can influence on her or his future work in production system.