Active Causes and Controls
Active Causes and Controls (ACC) was a project to make it easier for users of all levels of ergonomics knowledge to accurately identify the direct or root causes of ergonomic risk and identify industry-proven and ergonomically correct solutions to mitigate that risk.
I assisted the principal solution strategist team with initial concepting for this enhancement, a colleague took over initial research and wireframing, and then I picked it back up for high-fidelity designs, user testing, and supporting development.
The previous state of Direct Causes (the level before a root cause, which is often beyond the scope of what ergonomic enhancements can correct) and Improvements in Industrial Ergonomics was that users simply had to create them on their own and enter them into text boxes. The ergonomics team could offer support through consulting or initial training workshops, but at the end of the day it was on individual users to have the appropriate level of ergonomics knowledge to determine the direct cause of ergonomic risk and the appropriate improvement to mitigate that cause and that risk. These enhancements move the burden of industry-specific knowledge from the user to the system, allowing for more precise and accurate identification of direct causes and improvements, as well as paving the way for a lower-touch end-to-end job assessment and improvement process.
Active Causes
Active Causes and Controls consists of first identifying the highest-risk body regions/risk reas and then selecting causes based on a 5-Whys or Fishbone analysis to drill down to the appropriate level of causation. This model was developed by our ergonomics consultants and our Principal Solution Strategist for Ergonomics to assist users of all levels of ergonomics knowledge in identifying
In my user research I found that users were concerned that these categories would be too restrictive. While the consulting team and the PSS have done their due diligence to ensure that they're covering as much as they can, there's always a possibility that unforeseen circumstances will arise. For that reason, there's an "Other" category at every level of the 5-Whys questions as well as a description input where users can add as much detail as their internal standards require. This way we're meeting the needs of as many of our clients as we possibly can.
Controls
After the user selects the appropriate answers to our 5-Whys questions, we suggest a series of improvements or controls to mitigate the risk that has been identified. Again, these solutions were identified by our consulting team and Principal Solution Strategist. Once the user selects a control, it can be added to the Improvements phase where more details such as vendor and cost can be added.
Since there are often multiple risk areas impacted by one cause, users can apply direct cuases to multiple body regions. Improvements are only created and editable in the original direct cause to reduce confusion when many direct causes and improvements are present.
Feedback from user testing has been very positive, with all users interviewed stating that they believe that these enhancements will improve the accuracy and precision of the direct causes and improvements entered into the Industrial Ergonomics platform and ultimately implemented in factories and warehouses. This way the knowledge held by our ergonomics consulting team and Principal Solution Strategists can be democratized and users of all levels of ergonomics expertise will be able to implement helpful solutions and reduce the risk of injury and musculoskeletal disorders, aligning with Industrial Ergonomics' goal of improving the lives of the working population.
This enhancement is currently in development, and I'm very excited to see how users ultimately recieve it.