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What
is a checklist?
A checklist is a list
of items for consideration. They can be in the form of questions or
actions to be carried out. They can have a scoring system or they can
collect comments. Checklists can speed up the collection of
information by using tick-boxes and rating scales. They need to be
carefully designed to make sure that when they are completed, the
results are reliable and true. Checklists can act as memory aids to make
sure that all the relevant issues have been considered. |
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Contents of checklists
Checklists need to be relevant
to whatever you are checking, and detailed enough to
enable you to do a thorough job. A checklist needs to be constructed
as questions and clear steps, in some sort of logical sequence. The best way to do this is to work through all of the issues that are likely to be important and prepare a set of written comments about the product, task or environment. Out of these written comments you can prepare your checklist.
You can use checklists to help
evaluate products, both for usability and for safety. See the
topic on product evaluation for
more information. Human users are always at the
centre of ergonomic evaluation of products and a checklist for
this purpose should include the user, what task they are doing,
any other equipment needed, and what conditions of light, heat
and noise they are acting under. You should include the
following:
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| The
user |
- What is their age, gender,
size and strength?
- What is their training and
experience with the product or similar products?
- What are their expectations
about the product - how do they expect it to operate? Do
they want to use it?
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| The task
- does the task match the user? |
- What they are expected to do
and understand during the task?
- What do they need to know
before they carry out the task?
- Will they be able to
complete the task comfortably and safely?
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| The equipment
- does the equipment match the user? |
- Can the user see and reach
all relevant parts of the product?
- Can the user handle the
product comfortably and safely?
- Is the product easy and
convenient to use?
- Does the product 'fit in'
with any other equipment or furniture that needs to be used?
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| The environment
- does the environment match the user? |
- Is the lighting suitable for
the task?
- Is the temperature
comfortable for the user, when the task is being performed
and when it is not?
- Is the air quality good
enough?
- Are noise and vibration
levels acceptable for the user?
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designers and consumers can develop and write their own
checklists for tackling the ergonomics aspects of their
particular situation. Good examples of checklists can be seen in
articles evaluating consumer products where all of the relevant
product characteristics have been identified, and then a whole
range of similar products are checked to come up with
a score of how well they match users' needs.
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Interpreting
checklists
You should
consider a checklist as an initial guide in the process of
design or evaluation, and one particular checklist is unlikely to
be appropriate for many different problems. The
checklist should contain a series of questions to ensure that
the analysis or design has not overlooked the main interactions
between the user, their task, the equipment and their
environment.
Checklists
should not be the only means of evaluation for products, as they
often lead to 'yes'/'no' or 'never'/'sometimes'/'frequently'
type answers. While this can be valuable,
sometimes there may be degrees of acceptability, that is, a
product may just pass in one characteristic but coupled with
other characteristics, overall it may be unacceptable. For
example, if the lettering on a product is larger than the
minimum recommended, but the lighting where it is to be used may
be poor, this would make the lettering more difficult to read
and a larger size may be better. An example is the labelling on
the back of your computer that tells you which lead plugs in
where. Your computer may well be stored under a desk and if you
wanted to leave it in place while you changed a lead, the
lighting would be poor.
Although
checklists are usually simple, it is important that anyone using
a checklist understands its function and how to use it. This
should avoid misinterpretation and ensure consistency across
users and reliability of results. It
is often useful to have a section for notes as there may be
other relevant information that may need to be collected, for
example to explain a certain answer.
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 Example
checklist
for evaluation of
a child safety gate
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| Question |
Yes |
No |
| Is the gate resistant to push and pull forces generated by a child? |
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| Is the gate free from protrusions, points, edges, burrs, flashes, or splinters? |
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| Are any gaps large enough to prevent finger entrapment but small enough to prevent hand insertion and body part entrapment at all times through the ranges or movement of the latch and hinges? |
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| Is there sufficient gap between adjacent horizontal members to prevent potential footholds? If there are any features, such as hinges, catches, decorations and fittings, are they narrow enough not to be an adequate step? |
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| Is the vertical distance between the highest attainable foothold and the top of the barrier sufficient to prevent a child climbing over? |
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| Does the latch require at least 2 distinct actions to operate it, one of which is an upwards force? |
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| Is it easy to tell when the gate is correctly closed? |
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| Is it possible to open and close the gate with one hand? |
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| When the gate is open, is the gap wide enough for an adult (possibly a pregnant woman) to pass through easily? |
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| Is any bar that must be stepped over to go through the gate as low, narrow and rounded as possible, to prevent tripping? |
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| Does the latching mechanism self-latch? |
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| Do the instructions include all the necessary information, such as safe assembly procedures, installation, removal, use and maintenance, as well as warnings against potential misuse? |
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| Can the gate be installed or removed without tools or technical expertise? |
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| Are all materials resistant to a
child's bite, UV, etc. and will not degrade over time? |
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| Will the gate remain safe and useable for all of its expected lifespan, including when sold as second-hand? |
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