Design and use of computers
Katrin Kroemer Elbert · 2025
With as much as we use computers for work and leisure, current computer keyboards are still based on a QWERTY typewriter design from 1878, often now miniaturized to be even less user-friendly. Ergonomic principles in computer design provide suggestions for better, human-centered solutions for data input and manipulation. The current challenge in applying human engineering to the computer workplace pertains specifically to existing technologies. The fixed locations of the eyes and hands determine the overall position of the head and upper body, limiting variation in body posture over time. New human–device interface technology can free users from these constraints, allowing them to choose and adjust their body posture more freely. Ergonomic innovations aimed at both input and display improve the feedback loop between humans and computers, resulting in designs that better fit the human.