ASSOCIATION OF CONVENIENCE STORES

www.acs.org.uk



The ACS must hate The League Of Gentlemen. What could very possibly have become a popular cause, given widely held concerns about a potential Tescopoly on the high streets, they have instead been bumped down the list on Google by a murderous pair of pig nosed, pig suckling shopkeepers.

Still, the ACS carry on, running a Local Shop Campaigners initiative, where you can get a nice little certificate to put in your shop:



Most of the Advice section seems to be for ACS members only, although you can still access bits of it directly through the site map.

My favourite bits category advice pages. These are all brilliant:

Bread: "Keep a well stocked credible range of bread throughout the day"

Milk: "Give milk the attention it deserves...The milk shopper visits more frequently (four times a week compared to 2.7) and spends more per trip than the average c-store shopper (£7.07 compared to £5.25.)

Biscuits "In an average day, 19 million people consume a Biscuit"

Most of the category advice pages also have planograms that you can download. I LOVE planograms. I have no idea why.

The planogram for magazines is my favourite:



I like the assumption that anyone interested in transport or home entertainment magazines, will probably be quite interested in porn too.

EUROPEAN TISSUE SYMPOSIUM

www.europeantissue.com

You might think tissues aren't all that important. They're just tissues. But according to the European Tissue Symposium:

One of the most important factors for the development of our modern society is hygiene. Good health and high and improving quality of life is directly related to good hygiene.

And also:

One of the most important products for good hygiene is tissue paper, developed for all kinds of wiping and cleaning.

So therefore, I think it's safe to say that tissue is one of the most important things in the modern world.

But what is tissue? This is tissue. And here's a picture to represent tissue:



If you're interested in the properties of tissues, which you're not, but I am, there's a nice little section on product properties:

The first tissue handkerchiefs were introduced in the 1920, immediately making a genuine contribution to hygiene and cleanliness. The products have been refined over the years, especially for softness and strength, but their basic design has remained constant. Today each person in Western Europe uses about 200 tissue handkerchiefs a year, with a variety of 'alternative' functions including the treatment of minor wounds, the cleaning of face and hands and the cleaning of spectacles.

This study comparing the efficacy of various hand drying methods is quite fascinating (shorter summary available here). It's the sort of thing Nicholson Baker would have produced had he been scientist rather than a novelist. This is what Baker says about hand dryers in The Mezzanine:

Are people truly content to be using the hot-air blower? You hit the mushroom of metal that turns it on and, as the instructions recommend, you Rub Hands Gently under the dry blast. But to dry them even as thoroughly as a single paper towel would dry them in four seconds, you must supplicate under the droning funnel for thirty seconds, much longer than anyone has patience for; inevitably you exit flicking water from your fingers, while the blower continues to heat the room. In case you do decide to stand for the full count, the manufacturer (World Dryer Corporation) has provided a short silk-screened text to read to pass the time. It says:

To Serve you better --- We have installed Pollution-Free Warm Air Hand Dryers to protect you from the hazards of disease which may be transmitted by towel litter. This quick sanitary method dries hands more thoroughly prevents chapping --- and keeps washrooms free of towel waste.

In the corner of this statement, World has printed the small Greek letter that looks like a hamburger in profile, the symbol of the environmental movement. But does the environmental movement have anything to do with the reason why the Wendy's restaurant that I stood in on September 30, 1987 had installed this machine in its men's room? No. Is it, in fact, an efficient, environmentally upright user of the electricity produced by burning fossil fuels? No - there is no off button that would allow you to curtail the thirty-second dry time - you are forced to participate in waste. Does it prevent chapping? Dry air? Is it quick? It is slow. Is it more thorough? It is less thorough. Does it protect us from the hazards of disease? You will catch a cold quicker from the warm metal public dome you press to start the blower than from plucking a sterile piece of paper than no human has ever held from a towel dispenser, clasping it in your very own hands to dry them, and throwing it away. Come to your senses, World! The tone of authority and public-spiritedness that surrounds these falsehoods is outrageous! How can you let your marketing men continue to make claims that sound like the 1890s ads for patent medicines or electroactive copper wrist bracelets that are printed on the formica on the tables at Wendy's? You are selling a hot-air machine that works well and lasts for decades: a simple, possibly justifiable means for the fast-food chains to save money on paper products. Say that or say nothing.

Interestingly, in the two decades since Baker wrote that, the World Dryer Corporation has changed the message on their dryers, now it says:

Dryers help protect the environment. They save trees from being used for paper towels. The eliminate paper towel waste. They are sanitary and help maintain cleaner facilities

I'm not sure if the change represents a wider social change, with environmental concerns now more common, or if people weren't really convinced by the hygeine argument.

Anyway, I think Baker is talking about the World Dryer Corporation Model A series (shown here). This model has since been been updated to the XA series, which starts automatically, thereby removing Baker's objection to touching the "warm metal public dome" to start the dryer.

Also, the performance of electric hand dryers has improved, with the introduction of "jet air dryers". In the study linked to above, jet air dryers perform equally well as paper towels in terms of drying efficiency. They are also more hygenic than standard warm air dryers, by only producing a relatively small increase in bacteria after use (although only paper tissues saw an actual decrease).

Because of the power of jet air dryers, they do however have the potential to spread contaminants further within the washroom environment, so maybe they're not as hygenic as paper towels, but then how hygenic is it if you reach to get a paper towel, brush your fingers on the underside of the dispenser and then discover that it hasn't been refilled, so you have to wipe your hands on your trousers?

And anyway, what difference does any of it really make when you're just going to have to open the door using the same handle that everyone else who didn't bother washing their hands anyway has just used?

AUTOMATIC VENDING ASSOCIATION

www.ava-vending.co.uk

Slightly odd URL - if AVA stands for Automatic Vending Association, I'm not quite sure where the extra Vending comes from. I don't care too much though because it's vending. I love vending machines.

For me, when I think of vending machines, I think of the machine in the lobby at Cheam Baths. Or rather, I think of the machine that was in the lobby at Cheam Baths when I was about nine or ten years old.

My friends and I would go swimming most weekends, especially when they had the Cheam Scream (an inflatable slide) and the Wobstacle Course (an inflatable wobstacle course). Afterwards, we'd wait in the lobby, my friends would play Double Dragon and I'd get a packet of Wheat Crunchies from the vending machine.

Buying crisps from a vending machine is more exciting than playing any arcade game. Even Double Dragon. The lightweight nature of the crisps, plus the size and shape of the packet, means there's a possibility of snagging on what I now know to be called the "helix coil". A Mars Bar is unlikely to snag, its relatively heavy weight means it drops down cleanly into what I have just decided should be called the collection bay. I consider this possibility to be an added thrill, a sense of danger, of risk. Others are traumatised by the experience. But for every crisp-snagging disaster, there is the joy of finding a vending machine where a packet of crisps has already snagged and as a result, you can double up and get two for the price of one.

It's not just crisps and snacks you can get from vending machines. You can get cold drinks, hot drinks, CDs, DVDs, video games and mobiles, books, umbrellas, shoes, pizzas, memory cards, pies, Bentleys, lobsters, underpants but not used underpants, eggs, coat-hangers, worms and pornography.

Quite a lot of those are from Japan, where according to Wikipedia, there is one vending machine for every twenty-three people. Very impressive. The AVA don't seem so concerned with such esoteric vending items, though, they seem to concentrate more on refreshment vending:

Consumers in Britain annually spend some £1.5 billion through the slots of more than 418,000 refreshment vending machines. Every day, 8 million cups of coffee and 2 million cups of tea are vended.

Almost anything can be automatically vended, but the principal food and drink products are:

• Hot and cold beverages
• Cold drinks in bottles, cans or cartons
• Confectionery and savoury snacks
• Sandwiches and snack foods
• Cook/chill dishes (for heating in an adjacent microwave)
• Plated meals
• Ice cream

Pfff, that's boring. "Sandwiches and snack foods", whatever AVA - live lobsters, worms and porn are much better.

You can get water from vending machines. Look, this diagram shows the process water goes though from raincloud to vending machine.



I hope some of the stages have been abbreviated in that diagram, it sort of looks like the rain travels along some pipes until it reaches that bloke's office.

TETRA PAK

www.tetrapak.com

I like Ruben Rausing. He seems like a cool guy. Studying economics in the 20s and seeing the coming changes in society caused by industrialisation and urbanisation and the problems of feeding a crowded city:

Ruben Rausing started to build up a packaging industry, which considerably contributed to the restructuring of Swedish retailing, a modernisation, which led to self-service, convenience shopping and supermarkets. A primary objective was to replace bulk selling of unpacked goods with consumer adapted packaging for flour, sugar and salt. Another product, which was both perishable and demanded a lot of management, was milk. How could bulk milk and the unpractical glass bottle be replaced?

Rausing's idea, inspired by his wife, was to create a continuous paper cylinder filled with milk which was then sealed, eliminating trapped air and improving shelf life. Think of those sausage machines, where the filling is fed into the casing continuously and sealed at fixed intervals. Think of that, but milky:



The original Tetra Paks were tetrahedral in shape, which I guess is where the name comes from, and looked quite neat:



Now, Tetra Pak offer nine different packaging forms:



Left to right:

• Tetra Recart "Beef stew, or macaroni cheese? Now you can pack food you would normally pack in cans or glass jars in the environmentally friendly Tetra Recart"
• Tetra Fino Aseptic "The no-nonsense package specially designed to pack all kinds of milk, juice and teas"
• Tetra Rex "Probably the world's most popular and widespread carton package"
• Tetra Gemina Aseptic "Combines modern, eye-catching looks and a fresh image with the convenience, safety and nutritional benefits of aseptic packaging"
• Tetra Wedge Aseptic "A great way for young people to express their personality through what they drink"
• Tetra Prisma Aseptic "A premium package that's ideal for high quality fruit juices, flavoured enriched and cultured milks, iced teas and organic products"
• Tetra Brik Aseptic "Easy to store, safe and hygenic" (A non-aseptic version for chilled products is also available)
• Tetra Top "The package that adds real shelf confidence to your products"
• Tetra Classic Aseptic "Stands out from the packaging crowd"

The machines used to process and fill these cartons are very impressive. Look at this:



Who could have imagined a machine as huge as that would be simple enough to be operated by a woman?

I love watching footage of industrial production lines.



The clips here are beautiful too. I especially like the last clip ("Paketering i Tetra, Brik och Pure Pak, ca 1965") with that jolly little background music which about halfway through sounds like it's about to mutate into the instrumental version of (I've Got A) Golden Ticket used over the titles of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. Think of that, but milky.

TROPHEX

www.trophex.com

In a conversation on Twitter the other morning, following my bewilderment at yet again being overlooked for a BAFTA nomination, @mangowe drew my attention to the world of trophy manufacture.

It's surprisingly difficult to find out much about the trophy industry. Not because any conscious secrecy on their part, but just because Googling various combinations of the words "awards" and "manufacturing" and "trophies" and "design" tends just to bring up awards for manufacturing or trophies for design.

There are lots of companies which supply awards, but they're all quite small, and I don't know - don't get me wrong, I'd be pleased to win ANY award - but if I found out my eg Britain's Loveliest Man award had been bought from a company called Better Trophies Better Prices ("If you're looking for better trophies at better prices you've found them!"), I wouldn't be so thrilled.

Anyway, Trophex. You might be thinking "Why should attend?" Well, as the Trophex website explains:

Trophex is the dedicated trophy, award and personalisation exhibition in the UK.

The show is free to attend and there’s free parking.

Well, those are quite convincing reasons.

Looks like news is a bit slow, with the next Trophex show not until January. Reports of the 2009 show sound positive though:

As always Trophex is very well attended and Sunday especially saw a vast number of trophy retailers visit the show. Martin Lakin from Timbertown Trophies in Woodville near Burton-on-Trent has only missed one Trophex in the last 10 years. He regularly visits the show to see the new range of products that are coming out. The show is also a great opportunity to find new areas to expand his business into, 70% of which is in motor racing, so he combines his visit to Trophex with a visit to the Autosport International exhibition which takes place at the NEC Birmingham at the same time.

I recognise this point is slightly weakened by the fact that I've copied and pasted this paragraph, but why would anyone, other than possibly Martin Lakin's wife, be interested in any of that?

Working in the trophy industry means always being the bridesmaid and never the bride. There doesn't appear to be a trophy designer of the year award. There's no trophy manufacturer of the year. I guess this is just because they could never figure out who should design the award. You'd get yourself into one of those strange loops that don't make sense, like the plot of the first Terminator film or something.

I think this is possibly the greatest title for a technical document ever.

YKK

www.ykkeurope.com

I've often wondered what the letters YKK stand for. You always see it on zips. YKK. "What does that stand for", I've wondered. Well, now I know. It stands for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha. I think I'll stick with calling them YKK.

YKK don't just make zips. They also make snaps, buttons, adjusters, buckles, ball chains, elastic tapes, cord stoppers, cord ends, hooks, holders and rings. But they're best known for zips. The names of the different types of zips they make are brilliant:

EXCELLA - High-end luxury zipper with individual polished zipper elements.
EVERBRIGHT - Glossed polished zipper elements.
LUMINA - Part of the Excella series. Same finish as standard Excella but utilises aluminium element. Aluminium provides strength as well as being extremely lightweight.
PROSEAL - The water tight and airtight zipper range.
YZIP - The Y Zip is designed specifically for jeans wear. Y- Zip is available in different sizes and finishes.
AQUAGUARD - The water repellent zipper range mainly used for outwear and luggage.
CONCEAL - Invisible (hidden) zipper elements.
FINGUARD - Fins on the zipper element reduce the risk of a slider catching on the garment.
FLATKNIT - The zipper element is knitted directly onto the tape. Flatknit can be used on even thin & stretchy fabrics.
GRADATION- A variety of colour variations are possible by utilising combinations of rainbow coloured sewing thread.
METALLION - The metal coloured coil-plated zipper range.
MINIFA - Size 0. The world’s smallest zipper!
QUICKBURST - The zipper has been designed to open via the QuickBurst elements and close like a normal zipper. Allowing things to burst in and out of the zipper!
VISLON - The plastic element zipper range.
GRAPHIC - Graphic is a concealed zipper which uses jacquard woven tape. Graphic is available for design customisation.
LUMIFINE - Glow-in-the-dark zippers and fastening products.
NATULON - Environmentally friendly zippers made from recycled material.
PRIFA - Ink jet printed zipper tape. Any pattern, colour or logo can be created using computer graphics.
ReEARTH - The environment-conscious zipper made from biodegradable plastic.

They all sound amazing, although I can't help but feel that the exclamation mark at the end of the description ofr the Quickburst zip is slightly inappropriate.

QUICKBURST - The zipper has been designed to open via the QuickBurst elements and close like a normal zipper. Allowing things to burst in and out of the zipper!

That just sounds wrong. I can imagine there are situations where you'd want things to burst out of the zipper, but don't sound so enthusiastic about it.

I like the sound of YKK's founder, Tadao Yoshida. He developed a "cycle of goodness" based on the philosophy that "no-one prospers unless he helps bring prosperity to others":



In the 75 years since Tadao Yoshida founded the company however, it seems this philosophy may have been forgotten. In 2007, YKK were fined €150.3m for running a price fixing cartel and sharing information with other companies.

However, as you can see from the Social and Environmental Report 2008:

The YKK Group seeks to be a corporation that is recognized as "a company that can be trusted," "a truly international company" and "a company with technology for the creation of new value." We will continue to pursue our business activities with these goals. For this reason, as we strengthen our corporate governance systems, we intend to enhance our legal compliance efforts and work to fulfill the responsibilities of a good corporate citizen.

You tell 'em, Tadahiro!

RESIN FLOORING ASSOCIATION

www.ferfa.org.uk

Why do all these associations insist on cheating with their acronyms? I can see where FeRFA get the RFA from. Resin Flooring Association. But what's the Fe all about? Maybe they're just fans of early Talking Heads. Ferfa ferfa fa ferfa fa fa fa.

It's extraordinary to imagine that FeRFA is the only organisation dedicated to resin flooring. You'd think there'd be dozens. Considering their unique status, they must get lots of people taking them up on their offer of of "free advice on all aspects of Resin Flooring, including specification and problem solving", so it's understandable that to try to improve service, they'd have a Frequently Asked Questions page.

I wonder how frequently they're asked some of these questions.

Q4. I have just had a PU screed installed and noticed that the flint aggregate is becoming more visible.

Just how many people are installing PU screeds and noticing that the flint aggregate is becoming more noticeable and then contacting FeRFA for advice? That seems like quite a specific question. Much more so than "Do I need a primer?".

If you are planning to install a resin floor, FeRFA provide a simple guide to the different types available and how suitable each type is for differing levels of usage. Floor seal seems RUBBISH. Even with just light duty usage, it only lasts 1-2 years, it's liable to impact damage, osmosis may occur, it's not that easy to clean, it's not suitable for food processing areas, it's easy to slip on and looks like it creates a bit of static. Fuck floor seal, it's an idiot.

Some of the floors on the gallery pages look lovely though. Like this from Ryebrook Resin:



I also like this all-in-one, wrapped wall/floor effect from Altro:



I hope the ceiling has the same finish too. That mirror frame looks a bit out of place though.

And there's something deeply beautiful about this picture:

THE GROCER

www.thegrocer.co.uk

Oh my. I think I'm addicted. Seriously. Every week for the last two months or so, I've bought The Grocer. I can't explain why. It makes no sense. It's a trade magazine for food and drink retailers, I work for a DVD distribution company. I should be reading Media Week, or Broadcast, or something like that. Not this. But if I see a headline like "AS MANY AS 50% OF ASDA'S 5,000 NEW ROLLBACKS OFFER JUST A 1p SAVING" or "WHY APPLE PRICES ARE DOWN 20% YEAR-ON-YEAR", sorry, but I've got to buy that magazine.

The current issue is especially good. They do special pull-out guides once a month I guess (the last one was about hot beverages). In this issue, there's a guide to confectionery. It's got Mr T on the front. Mr T says:

Listen up suckers, did you know:

• MARS is the No.1 manufacturer in sales of 'hunger' lines with 59% value share
  
• The hunger category is big and growing
  
• 'Hunger' is the 2nd largest needstate with sales of over £250m
  
• Multifacings of the best sellers (eg Mars, Snickers, Twix) will deliver more sales than 1 facing of a slower seller

I didn't know any of that, Mr T. Well, possibly the last one.

To be honest, I never realised how knowledgable Mr T was when it comes to this sort of thing. You've got to admire the way he has all these figures at his bejwelled fingertips.

The Grocer's Guide To Confectionery contains what is without doubt the clunkiest, clumsiest, most desperate, most awkward linking paragraph I have ever read in my life. Let me set the scene. Talking about Nestlé's advertising proposals for the coming year, journalist David Burrows then seeks a way to link that to the new Mikado product recently launched in the UK by Kraft. This is how he does it:

It's been another impressive year for KitKat with sales up over 30% to £94m. Buyers suggest Nestlé has "got its house in order" with the brand now, having improved the focus. The launch of KitKat Senses, fronted by the Girls Aloud babes, has also given the brand that Something Kinda Oooooh.

Britain's most popular girl brand was, of course, discovered on TV show "Popstars: The Rivals". And now, "their biscuit" could have a rival, of sorts, on the confectionery shelves with Kraft foods having just launched a "unique chocolate biscuit snack specifically designed for on-the-go customers".

Christ. I'm not claiming the rubbish I write on this bloody blog is any better, but, you know, I'm doing this for free. Fuck knows why.

The same article also contains sentence which, well, I wouldn't want to suggest it's a deliberate lie, so maybe it's better just to say it demonstrates a slightly absurd overconfidence in the accuracy of their figures:

Nestlé has promised £7m to its Aero brand and treble that for KitKat. In fact, shoppers are unlikely to have a break from advertising for the iconic brand with the series of "Perfect Break" ads set to be seen by 99.9% of the target audience 53 times in 2009.

How on earth can it be possible to make a statement with that degree of accuracy?

And then, within this very same article, there's a spectacularly inane comment from Craig Barker, sales director at Ferrero:

Boxed chocolate remains a strong category despite tough economic times. The amount of disposable income may diminish, but key gifting occasions such as birthdays, Christmas, Valentine's and Easter will continue, as will the propensity of the consumer to gift at these key times.

Brilliant. He's basically saying "there are still times when people will give chocolates to other people as presents and at these times when people will give chocolates to other people as presents, they will give chocolates as presents". Thanks for that, Craig.

Anyway, despite all this, and even only looking at the confectionery guide, I like learning all the specialist phrases used in industries like this. The "hunger" "needstate". "Multi-facings". "Impulse sub-section". "Pouch format". "Large-block"

Possibly The Grocer doesn't really qualify for this blog. It's a trade magazine, not a trade association, and their website doesn't offer much more than the print version so it's not like I'm concentrating on that either. But, so what? It's my blog. I can write what I want.

SCENTAIR

http://www.scentair.com/index.html

I can't remember how I heard about Scentair. Someone must have written about it somewhere, I doubt I would have just googled "scent marketing" or "fragrance systems" or "aroma diffusion" because I have no idea what those things are. They sound quite good though.

Irritatingly for me, because of the way their website is built, I can't copy and paste huge chunks of text from the Scentair site as I would normally do at this point. I'd guess there aren't a huge amount of people who would want to copy and paste huge chunks of text from the Scentair websites to their pointless blogs, so it's probably not a major inconvenience on a global scale, but it's a bit annoying for me. It means I have to type stuff. I hate typing stuff. So, if I have to type particularly long paragraphs of text from the Scentair website, I might be forced to insert swear words into the text. Sorry about that.

Anyway, according to their About Us section:

Scentair is the global leader of scent marketing solutions. Our patented systems help enhance environments, communicate brands and create memorable experiences. We give our clients the tools to sculpt their own unique environment, completing their customers' experience by engaging memory and emotions through the sense of smell. Tits.

I added that last word.

Anyway, basically, what they do is they install industrial scale Ambi-pur plug ins. But instead of just rubbish old "soft linen" or "aromatic wood", Scentair offer a much more impressive selection of fragrances:

Fresh
Ocean
Fresh Air
Fresh linen
South Sea Island
Island Breeze
Ocean Mist
Sagebrush
Innocent
Vanilla Grapefruit
Lemon Balm
Fresh Outdoors
Coconut Beach
Lavender Vanilla

OK, yeah. They all sound nice. "Fresh Outdoors", "Vanilla Grapefruit", "Ocean Mist". Lovely.

Environmental
Orange Blossom
Juniper Aloe
Herbal Mist
Green Tea & Lemongrass
Ocean
Tobacco Shop
Siberian Fir
Leather
French Vanilla
Redwood Forest
Sagebrush
Evergreen Forest

Again, they seem nice. "Orange Blossom", "Green Tea & Lemongrass", "French Vanilla". Mmmm.

Floral
Jasmine
Roses
Wildflower
Lavender
White Gardenia
Lilacs
Honeysuckle
Mimosa
Rose Garden
Herbal Mist
Summer Blossoms
Autumn Mums
Fragrant Magnolia

"Autumn Mums"? That doesn't sound very nice.

Food & Drink
Birthday Cake
Sugar Cookie
Chocolate Chip Cookie
Gingerbread
Glazed donut
Waffle Cone
Cinnamon Buns
Hot Apple Pie
Cinnamon,
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
French Bread
Fresh Brewed Coffee
Spiced Apple Cider
Hot Chocolate
Pink Lemonade
Mochaccino
Peppermint

OK, that sounds better. None of that "Autumn Mums" nonsense. I like how specific they're able to be as well. Birthday cake, not any other type of cake. Three different types of cookies. Don't cookies, and indeed most biscuits, smell more or less the same?

Holiday
Peppermint
Spiced Apple Cider
Chocolate
Gingerbread
Dark Chocolate
Holiday Nights
Winter Blue
Ice Show
Evergreen Forest
Noel

Oh god, I hope they mean Noël as in "the first Noël/the angels did say". I don't want to imagine what this smells like. Now SMELL THIS, Wealdon District Council.

Simulation
Engine Exhaust
Dinosaur Breath
Gunpowder
Musty
Earth
Fresh Cut Grass
Sulfurous Volcano
Burning Rubber
Diesel Exhaust
Oily Machinery
Dinosaur Dung
Skunk
Wood Fire

They've just run out of ideas now, haven't they? "Musty"? Why would you want something to smell musty? And "Dinosaur Breath" I could just about accept, though how anyone knows what it smells like, I have no idea. I'd imagine dinosaurs have quite nice breath. Clifford managed to pull and he was a dragon, so surely a dinosaur's breath would be similar but just less smoky? Anyway, as I say, maybe I can accept "Dinosaur Breath", but surely, no-one wants to experience the smell of "Dinosaur Dung". Or "Skunk" for that matter. Skunks are only famous for one thing and that's for being proper stinkers. No-one wants that.

THE ERGONOMICS SOCIETY

http://www.ergonomics.org.uk/

Probably the most interesting subject I did at school was Design Technology. Not actually making stuff, although I kind of enjoyed that (and still do in fact) but design theory - history of the teapot type stuff.

It was partly due to my teacher I guess, who as you can see here scored an excellent five out of five on RateMyTeachers.com. He was an odd man, the sort of person who would be described anachronistically as a confirmed bachelor. Anyway, I quite liked his quiet manner, his obsession with neatness, his carefully ordered stationery cupboard. One thing about him I had completely forgotten about until I typed that last sentence was when we did technical drawing, we used these trays which had all the equipment we needed - set squares, protractors, rulers, differently graded pencils etc etc etc. At the end of each class, he insisted every put the equipment back in the trays in exactly the same way, the ruler had to go on one particular side, the set square on the other, the eraser in one corner. "I want it A1 tidy" he'd say, which I don't even think is a proper phrase, but he'd say it anyway.

Anyway, one thing which I particularly found interesting was ergonomics. Visual displays, information design, anthropometry, motion studies. I liked learning about the 5th and 95th percentiles:

First, notice that the graph is symmetrical – so that 50% of people are of average height or taller, and 50% are of average height or smaller. The graph tails off to either end, because fewer people are extremely tall or very short. To the left of the average, there is a point known as the 5th percentile, because 5% of the people (or 1 person in 20) is shorter than this particular height. The same distance to the right is a point known as the 95th percentile, where only 1 person in 20 is taller than this height.

Usually, you will find that if you pick the right percentile, 95% of people will be able to use your design. For instance, if you were choosing a door height, you would choose the dimension of people's height (often called 'stature' in anthropometry tables) and pick the 95th percentile value – in other words, you would design for the taller people. You wouldn't need to worry about the average height people, or the 5th percentile ones – they would be able to fit through the door anyway.

There's something kind of comforting about the idea that there's a whole industry dedicated to making sure that most of the time, most people find things easy to use, comfortable to use. It's like someone's taking care of us. And they're doing it with some numbers and a graph.

I think I also like ergonomics because it's one of those crossroad areas of study. It's a bit of maths, a bit of physiology, a bit of psychology, a bit of engineering, a bit of sociology. Also, it's quite boring, which appeals to me. Plus, of course, images like this are clearly just fantastic:


Brilliant.

I'd quite like to go to this:

Must have been Designed by a Man!
21 April 2009, London
A 'breakfast meeting' will be hosted by CCD Design & Ergonomics Ltd. The theme will be "Everyday items exhibiting 'good' and 'bad' ergonomics". Presentations will be centred on familiar and unknown examples of everyday objects and their ergonomic qualities. We hope to answer questions such as: 'how well have these items succeeded in the market place?' and 'has ergonomics affected this success or failure?'

Although, well, it would probably be a bit weird if I went. It would be loads of ergonomics professionals and maybe a few students or whatever and maybe some engineers and designers, people like that. And me.