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Over the last 50 years, ergonomics (or human factors) has been maturing and evolving as a unique and independent discipline that focuses on the nature of human-artifact interactions, viewed from the unified perspective of science, engineering, design, technology, and the management of humancompatible systems, including a variety of natural and artificial products, processes, and living environments (Karwowski, 2005). According to the International Ergonomics Association (2002), ergonomics is a systems-oriented discipline that extends across all aspects of human activity. The traditional domains of specialization within ergonomics include physical ergonomics, cognitive ergonomics, and organizational ergonomics. Physical ergonomics is concerned with human anatomical, anthropometric, physiological, and biomechanical characteristics as they relate to human physical activity. Cognitive ergonomics is concerned with mental processes, such as perception, memory, reasoning, and motor response, as they affect interactions among humans and other elements of a system. Organizational ergonomics is concerned with the optimization of sociotechnical systems, including their organizational structures, policies, and processes.

The discipline of ergonomics has witnessed rapid growth and its scope has continually expanded toward new knowledge about humans that can be useful in design (Karwowski, Siemionow, & Gielo-Perczak, 2003). The expansion in scope has roughly followed the sequence from physical (motor) to cognitive, to esthetic, and most recently to affective (emotional) factors. This in turn has made it necessary to consider …