The students cooked meals together in standard American kitchens which were designed on the basis of post-WWII ergonomic research which used the measurements of young men to determine counter heights and shelving as well as the positioning of appliances. They also used time-motion studies to document how long it took to complete a task, and human factors observations of how far they needed to reach for an essential ingredient or a key utensil. In their search for the number of movements needed to complete everyday tasks, the students found that it takes more than 400 steps to make a simple meal.
Susan S. Szenasy, "Making a Case for Design Research," MetropolisMag.com, 22 Nov 2004
See alsoJohn Hockenberry, "Design is Universal," MetropolisMag.com, 22 Nov 2004
