In 1992 my then business partner Ed Kafrissen and myself had the fortune to contract with a company that specializes in ergonomic design, our customer.  One of the things an ergonomic engineer does is collect demographic and population data. So they would know the ideal size for a hand held device to fit in (for example) a typical human hand.  This company worked with Industrial designers and artists to make sketches and mock ups of the products before Ed and I turned them into actual products.  We 'owned' the soft side of the ergonomic design as well.

Below is a design sketch of the "Hand Held Stress Meter".   We turned this into reality for the customer.   It is a biomedical device for collecting biomechanical data.   If you think about the placement of the user interface elements in the sketch, there was some thought that went into it.  For instance the 'volume dial' was where your thumb would land.  Designed by biomechanical engineers for biomechanical engineers.

In 1996, a few years later, I worked for a major Fortune 500 manufacturer.  I arranged a meeting between my engineering department and the Ergonomic design house I had previously worked for.  They had no in-house ergonomic engineers.  This was, is, a LARGE corporation.  I take it as my failure that I was unable to get the attention of the management there and illustrate the value of ergonomics [If you are following these series of laboratory notes you will notice that I am endeavoring to bring my communication skills to a higher level]. 

In subsequent laboratory notebook entries I should illustrate the significance of design.