Avatars help design ergonomic washing machines

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To understand what happens when users load and unload washing machines eight hours every day, five days a week, Electrolux Professional took an innovative approach to ergonomic design, using avatars. Seven volunteers were hooked up to computers via sophisticated 3D body-motion, data-capture wearables. This generated an avatar which could simulate all critical movements, thus allowing medical and ergonomics experts to analyze the results. The study was carried out at a facility in Ljungby, Sweden. Six washing machines and four driers machines, from Professional and competitors, were connected to water and electricity, drains and air outlets. The participants, with a mix of ages, height, gender and background, were given a range of tasks to perform. The participants made some interesting discoveries, such as a large door opening not always being better than a small one, since items fall out. The height of the doors and displays vis-à-vis the users, were also found to be critical. “Everyone should be able to use our machines”, said Christine Gustavsson, Design UX Specialist, Electrolux Professional, who ran the study. As communicated by the company, the Electrolux machines compared well with the competitors. Doors could be opened with less force, for example, thanks to the shape of the handles. The position of the lint filter also won favorable comments. In terms of usability, the volunteers found that they understood how to use more advanced functions such as delayed start without using a manual, which was not the case for all machines. “The two-day study generated a raft of invaluable data, which will be used in developing the next generation of laundry machines”, explained Gustavsson.