From Micro to Macro Dimension: An Inverted Way to Think Solution in Designs

Abstract

The theme of this article relates to the difficulties of embodying user expectations and management’s interests in the design of workstations. Our focus is on industry-driven designs. Workstations are usually designed according to the logic of the design process, which adopts macro solutions as a praxis and then carries it forward to solve micro issues. In effect, this logic deals with the building design, then shifts its focus to the work spaces, and only then begins to define the workstations. The purpose of this article is to show that understanding how a workstation is used reveals key information for the design of the building responsible for supporting future workstations. Based on the Ergonomic Work Analysis method, a case study was developed in the context of a Brazilian thermal power plant. The analysis included a building that contained a control room and its workstations. The results showed that the Design Inversion process – from Micro to Macro – allows for learning from the experience of use, thus avoiding errors that are commonly made in complex designs and later repeated in other business units in the industry or in the same company with several similar units.