| Research literature was reviewed for three disciplines: ergonomics, human factors, and lighting design to explore the influence on computer workstations. The logic model was used to organize discipline knowledge base and research methods. In order to develop a more comprehensive theoretical model and to understand the conceptual models of users and expert groups (ergonomics, human factors, and lighting designers) additional analysis was conducted using the Pathfinder methodology. Participants from each group were asked to relate key computer workstation concepts. The results indicate that experts and users have similar conceptual models and that experts offer unique and comprehensive relationships for key concepts. The concepts of "Task performance" and "Fatigue and discomfort" identified by users and experts, were the focus of the laboratory experiment.;The laboratory experiment measured comfort and performance of two web surveys, for standing and sitting workstations, through measurement of wrist posture, task completion time, number of mouse clicks, and user perception. Significant gender differences results included greater female extension posture for the Energy survey and greater female ulnar-radial deviation for the Health survey. Significant results for sit and stand workstation designs occurred only with females for ulnar-radial deviation. For both surveys the standing females spent more time in the extreme ranges. The sitting workstation included a keyboard tray, which may be a confounding factor.;Significantly lower mouse clicks resulted for the Health survey and is a result of the screen design of the web survey. The questionnaire results identified that the background of the participant (major or ASU position) influenced perception. Also, participants that used the computer less than twenty hours per week were more sensitive to the human factors and ergonomics issues. The combination of methods and disciplines resulted in a more comprehensive evaluation of the web surveys and workstation designs. |
