Mattress Development through a Participatory Ergonomics Approach

Abstract

The research literature provides little guidance for incorporating consumer input into the evaluation of mattress comfort. This paper describes the use of participatory ergonomics (PE) approaches to promote the comfort of flexible polyurethane foams mattresses. The following research and development effort was performed by an ergonomics research firm, retained by a Japanese-based materials manufacturer. The associated approaches were subsequently applied to a series of studies that aimed to evaluate the impact of urethane on mattress comfort. This paper describes the roles of each project partner, research and development stages and physical properties of trial products that are relevant to ergonomics.