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Blog archive

March 2025

About Senior Solutions
03/28/2025

Building a Bridge With Journey House, A Home Base for Former Foster Youth
03/28/2025

Come for the Knitting, Stay for the Conversation... and the Cookies
03/28/2025

Creating Safe and Smart Spaces with Home Technology
03/28/2025

Finding Joy in My Role on The Pasadena Village Board
03/28/2025

I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up!
03/28/2025

Managing Anxiety
03/28/2025

Message from Our President: Keeping Pasadena Village Strong Together
03/28/2025

My Favorite Easter Gift
03/28/2025

The Hidden History of Black Women in WWII
03/28/2025

Urinary Tract Infection – Watch Out!
03/28/2025

Volunteer Coordinator and Blade-Runner
03/28/2025

Continuing Commitment to Combating Racism
03/26/2025

Status - March 20, 2025
03/20/2025

Goodbye and Keep Cold by Robert Frost
03/13/2025

What The Living Do by Marie Howe
03/13/2025

Racism is Not Genetic
03/11/2025

Bill Gould, The First
03/07/2025

THIS IS A CHAPTER, NOT MY WHOLE STORY
03/07/2025

Dramatic Flair: Villagers Share their Digital Art
03/03/2025

Empowering Senior LGBTQ+ Caregivers
03/03/2025

A Life Never Anticipated
03/02/2025

Eaton Fire Changes Life
03/02/2025

February 2025

Commemorating Black History Month 2025
02/28/2025

Transportation at the Pasadena Village
02/28/2025

A Look at Proposition 19
02/27/2025

Behind the Scenes: Understanding the Pasadena Village Board and Its Role
02/27/2025

Beyond and Within the Village: The Power of One
02/27/2025

Celebrating Black Voices
02/27/2025

Creatively Supporting Our Village Community
02/27/2025

Decluttering: More Than The Name Implies
02/27/2025

Hidden Gems of Forest Lawn Museum
02/27/2025

LA River Walk
02/27/2025

Message from the President
02/27/2025

Phoenix Rising
02/27/2025

1619 Conversations with West African Art
02/25/2025

The Party Line
02/24/2025

Bluebird by Charles Bukowski
02/17/2025

Dreams by Langston Hughes
02/17/2025

Haiku - Four by Fritzie
02/17/2025

Haikus - Nine by Virginia
02/17/2025

Wind and Fire
02/17/2025

Partnerships Amplify Relief Efforts
02/07/2025

Another Community Giving Back
02/05/2025

Diary of Disaster Response
02/05/2025

Eaton Fire: A Community United in Loss and Recovery
02/05/2025

Healing Powers of Creative Energy
02/05/2025

Living the Mission
02/05/2025

Message from the President: Honoring Black History Month
02/05/2025

Surviving and Thriving: Elder Health Considerations After the Fires
02/05/2025

Treasure Hunting in The Ashes
02/05/2025

Villager's Stories
02/05/2025

A Beginning of Healing
02/03/2025

Hectic Evacuation From Eaton Canyon Fire
02/02/2025

Hurricanes and Fires are Different Monsters
02/02/2025

January 2025

What Is Ergonomics?

By Marvin Dainoff
Posted: 09/27/2023
Tags: health, ergonomics

What does it mean when an office chair or a keyboard is called “ergonomic”? Ergonomics refers to the “fit” between people and the things that they use. Those “things” include all modern technology. Thus, ergonomics goes way beyond furniture. When you hear terms like “usability,” “user-friendly,” and “user experience,” the underlying principles are based on the study of ergonomics. 

My goal is to explain these principles so that each of you can use them in your daily life.

What does “fit” actually mean? One way of looking at fit is in terms of the principle of least effort. If you are working at your computer, fit means trying to find your comfort zone so as to get your task done with the least effort. Finding your comfort zone, in turn, means trying to get into what is technically called “neutral posture.” Each of the joints of your body (wrist, elbow, knee, hip, shoulder, neck) has a range of motion. Neutral posture occurs when your body is at the middle of the range of motion of each joint. 

Thus, the starting point for your comfort zone is sitting with feet flat, legs vertical, thighs horizontal, back upright, head upright (not tilted), arms horizontal, and wrists flat.  To get to this posture, you need to have “things” in the environment (such as adjustable furniture) and know how to adjust them and why.

This is only the starting place. We also need to consider the task itself. Can you see the text on the computer screen clearly?  What about documents you might be working on? Where are they located? Can you read them clearly? And so on. (The “so on” can also include the layout of the apps on your screen.)    

There is a really important principle here. Each individual is different. An ergonomic “expert” cannot prescribe for you an “ergonomically correct” working posture. Each person has to solve this problem for themselves; letting their own body tell them what is comfortable. An ergonomist can only provide advice.

For example, I might help you find the adjustment controls on your chair. What happens when you move the chair a certain way? Does it get you closer to your comfort zone? I might also ask what kind of glasses or contact lenses you have. Where do you have to hold your head to read the screen clearly? Are your wrists bent while typing? Is there a way to adjust the height of the keyboard?

In the real world, this process will rarely be completely successful. There will almost always have to be compromise depending on what “things” you have available to support your posture. However, the outcome will usually be an improvement.

My goal is to empower you. I want to give you some simple analytic tools to allow you to solve your own ergonomics issues. I will be giving a Village presentation in November in which I will describe these tools in more detail. Meanwhile, I am a member of the Village IT Support Team, and you can contact me for specific requests by going to our Member Directory.

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