How do users design? The case of sugar cane harvester machines

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Narimoto, Lidiane Regina^{; *} | Camarotto, João Alberto

Affiliations: Department of Production Engineering, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Lidiane Regina Narimoto, Profa. Dolores A. Bonganhi, 274, Nova Água Branca II, CEP:13426-301, Piracicaba/SP, Brasil. Tel: +55 19 996166178; E-mail: lnarimoto@hotmail.com.

Abstract: BACKGROUND:Design in use and inventiveness are key concepts in ergonomics. It is well-known that users design but is not explored in the literature how they manage to do that. OBJECTIVE:This paper aims to contribute to the discussion of how users actually design, by showing a research conducted in sugar cane harvesting in Brazil and in Australia. METHODS:Through the methodology of the Ergonomic Work Analysis (EWA), the design modifications made by the harvesting teams were identified as well as their elaboration process. RESULTS:Three categories of modifications in machines’ design were identified: structural, functional and operational and they were more numerous in Brazilian situations. It is proposed that two theories underlying the theme are intertwined: the instrument-mediated activity approach and the design as bricolage. CONCLUSIONS:It is argued that users design through the articulation of: a) the operators’ activity, b) the mechanical technicians’ inventory to practice bricolage as a way of designing and c) the work organisation and the existence of social spaces of interaction between these two subjects.

Keywords: Design in use, bricolage, instrumental genesis, inventiveness

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-172574

Journal: Work, vol. 57, no. 3, pp. 421-432, 2017