Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)As a Human Factors professional that owns the 1st addition, shortly after purchasing this version (2nd edition), I questioned my wisdom.
This book is about 200 pages shy of the original and not surprisingly repeats many of the same information as it's predecessor. Unfortunately, it gives us little more than dated information with a bit of new stuff tacked on.
What really dissappointed me was that the anthropometric data that is provided here, dates back to that of the original's 1960's data. What is the point of a new edition? The census data stated here is so dated it is ridiculous, both in composition as well as age.I wish I had known that this data was not updated prior to my investing in the new edition. I would not have purchased it.
I question the usefulness of data published in so recent a book based primarily on Air force personnel of the 60s. That type of data had it's day & was appropriate at it's original publishing. Today's Human Factors professional needs more diversified data that is more international in it's scope. For that matter, I'm certain 1960s air force personnel (who are screened for height and weight) hardly represent the year 2000 demographics of the United States much better.
I found it interesting that the same graphics that may have been the best you could do in the original were repeated in this new document. Couldn't they refresh some of the look, clean up some of the old graphs. As the original was, this document is a mix of font styles, graphics and inconsistent data presentation. Does this truly represent the user of the document well? I recognize presentation is not "everything" but on a second pass of the same information you could dress it a bit better at least.
The major addition predictably is the data surrounding workstations and computer usage, however, I'm questioning it's usefulness relative to the anthropometric data also here. Is this new data based on aged human measurement data too? Will it only fit the 1960 US air force man and woman?
I think this book would have been better printed as an addendum to the original version costing about $25. This way the workstation data could be added plus any items that are new.
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Practical guidelines for the Ergonomic Design of Products and Facilities You'll find: Key Descisions to make at the conceptual design stage; Diagrams, charts and checklists; Data on cognitive skills, sensory capacities, mobility, strength, and dexterity; Tables of Engineering unit conversions and scientific constants; Designs that "fit the user"; Human Body size, reach, strength, reaction time, environmental stress resistance. Now revised and updated, this definitive guide--recognized worldwide as the leading source of ergonomics data and guidelines--is even more useful for integrating the human factor in the design of facilities, systems, products, and equipment. To help you ensure safe and efficient use, and prevent user error, injury, inconvenience, or dissatisfaction, the second edition of Human Factors Design Handbook includes step-by-step guidelines and valuable human factor data for identifying and accommodating the needs of people in architecture and the design of furnishings, equipment, consumer products, vehicles, machinery, highways and transportation. (19921001)
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