Abstract
The present study investigated the dimension mismatched between user’s anthropometry and kitchen design and the implication of designing a tool for work simplification in kitchen activities. To find out the correlation between anthropometry measurements and kitchen design features 6 groups were created and the correlation among these was analyzed by using one-way ANOVA. Further, a handy step stool was developed by using Quality Function Deployment (QFD) methodology. Kitchen dimensions did not found to be matched with the majority of the women's physical responses. Women were found to be raising their heels, stretching their hands to perform the work, and adopting awkward postures which were simultaneously creating MSDs among women. For tool development, firstly customers determined the customer requirements and their relative weight along with technical requirements. The relationship matrix identified the technical requirements that satisfy most customer consequences. Maximum importance weight was received by T5, T1, and T6, and a low relative importance weight was found for T4 (Fixed cost). Regarding comparison with competitors, the handy step stool was found to be more suitable in ergonomically designed (5), easy to convert as peruse (5), strength (5), easy to sit and work(5), and easy to use as a step stool (5) parameters compared to other tools available in the market for same purposes. As per QFD, important criteria for handy step stool development were easy to use, followed by easily convertible and ergonomically fit.