Ergonomics Standards

The international standard ISO 9241 “The Ergonomics of Human-system Interaction” is one of the most influential standards in ergonomics across the world.  It supports a wide variety of HCI (human-computer interaction) activities including:

• Analysing and defining system requirements
• Designing user-system dialogues and interface navigation
• Designing or selecting displays
• Designing or selecting keyboards and other input devices
• Designing physical workplaces for users
• Supporting and training users
• Designing jobs and tasks

Our expertise 

Our Executive Chairman,Tom Stewart has been instrumental in developing the ISO 9241 series over the last 25 years, as Chairman of the international standards committee ISO/TC159/SC4 Ergonomics of Human System Interaction.

Why use international ergonomic standards? 

In many parts of the world, compliance with relevant standards is a mandatory requirement in major contracts, but even when it is not, we believe standards are a good idea because they:

• provide definitive, authoritative widely agreed statements of good practice
• require organisations to consider and meet the needs of their people
• help organisations meet their legal requirements under disability and health and safety legislation
• promote consistency by providing a consistent reference across design teams or across time.

Need to find out more? 

Tom has written a series of articles to give you a comprehensive overview of the standards and how to get the best from them.  As well as covering ergonomics, ISO 9241 has sections which cover user centred design, usability and accessibility.  You can find more information about these sections of the standards on our usability standards page.

 These two articles give you the basic information you need to find your way around the standards:

The structure of ISO 9241 "Ergonomics of human-system interaction"
An overview of ISO 9241 introducing the way the standard is structured and the general areas it covers.

How to use usability and ergonomics standards (and how to buy them)
A more detailed look at the individual parts of the standard, who should be using them and what they cover, including links to allow you to buy your own copies of the standards you need.

And these two give you some useful background information:

How ISO develops international standards
An understanding of the development process, its strengths and limitations, to help you use the standards more effectively.

The history of ISO 9241
Tom's personal, light-hearted view of 25 years work chairing the committee responsible for this standard.

Still need help? 

If you feel you need more expert help on interpreting and applying standards to your business, please contact Tom on 020 7240 3388 or email: contact us