Marks & Spencer Puts Ergonomics on the Case

We managed the development of a new display case ensuring the needs of both staff and customers were addressed throughout the design process.

The Brooklands Refrigerated Display Case was launched across Marks & Spencer following a five-year development programme involving three manufacturers and consultants in

• product design
• hygiene
• structural engineering
• ergonomics.

Business requirements 

Marks & Spencer's wanted food in the new case to be presented to the customer attractively and in optimum condition - both in terms of temperature and hygiene.  They also required it to:

• allow easy access for customers, including wheelchair users
• improve staff health and safety when merchandising and cleaning
• be reliable and energy efficient (minimising greenhouse emissions)
• have sophisticated monitoring and control
• make efficient use of space
• provide value for money.

With System Concepts directing the project and following a user centred design process, the ergonomic requirements of both customers and employees were addressed at each stage of the design process.

Customer requirements 

From the customer's viewpoint, a display case simply needs to present food at the right temperature in a convenient and accessible manner for easy browsing and selecting.  So ergonomics considerations here involved making the case structure as unobtrusive as possible, whilst ensuring that people could reach forward and pick up merchandise safely and easily.

To avoid the 'trapped in canyon' effect which tall display cases often create in aisles, an aerofoil front canopy edge was specially designed which was cut back, unobtrusive and delivered an appropriate air flow.

Staff requirements 

Staff responsible for loading merchandise, cleaning and maintaining the cases required surfaces that were easy to clean and handle with no sharp corners.  A small 600mm shelf module, which was easy to move, adjust and clean and made more efficient use of space, was a major ergonomics benefit.

Other important factors included allowing access for cleaning and maintenance (always difficult where space is at a premium) as well as the safe and practical location of the considerable amount of machinery, such as fans and electronic controllers, necessary to maintain an even temperature in an open-fronted case.

What we did 

Rigorous testing ensued with prototypes in two parallel streams playing an important part in the development process.  A functional prototype was tested in controlled laboratory conditions to refine the technical design to meet Marks & Spencer's demanding performance standards and a merchandising and design prototype was developed to test aesthetic and operational requirements in parallel.

Trials took place in store with staff and customers and the final improved product was first installed at the Brooklands store (hence the display case's name) and then rolled out throughout the business.

The results

Marks & Spencer Executive David Williams commented

People are at the heart of our business and although the new case had to meet a wide range of practical business needs, the main design objective was ease of use and safety for the variety of people, from customers and sales advisors to cleaners and engineers, who would use or work on the case during its lifetime.  For this reason, ergonomics was kept at the centre of the design process to maintain this people-oriented focus.

The end result was not just an innovative design for a refrigerated display case but a major development which gives us enormous flexibility in planning and efficiency in operation in order to provide customers with high quality merchandise in peak condition.