The product development process is an interdisciplinary process which comprehends the study of the people, the processes and the context. Inserting ergonomics to the project of products has gained importance in the past years. This issue is important in the transportation of passengers, where comfort while seated has considerable relevance to the users' perception. The purpose of this study was to find out the practices of inserting ergonomics and comfort to the product development process adopted by seat manufacturers. The product development model presented by Pugh (1983) and Pugh; Morley (1986 and 1988) was the theoretical framework used. The work was based on the existing literature and semi-structured interviews with five seat manufacturers. It was observed that ergonomics and comfort are considered parameters in the products development processes of these companies. However, the consolidation of the analysis of users' activity as a universally consolidated methodology was not observed.
Comfort; Ergonomics; Seat; Transportation
