Ergonomics and Prototyping in Industrial Design: Balance and Positioning (Part 1)

This will be a multi-part series about ergonomics. Ergonomics is about designing products to fit peoples' bodies. It is a critically important part of the industrial design process. In this particular video, I examine some bass guitars that I designed and built.

John Mauriello has been working professionally as an industrial designer since 2010. He is an Adjunct Professor of industrial design at California College of the Arts.

[Knil]

I never realized how un-ergonomic the guitars and bases are until now, it makes a lot of sense!

[НиколаГеоргиев-цр]

I'm currently taking class on ergonomics, so this video couldn't have come at better time, thank you :).
Cheers!

[Designotherwise]

I really like that you had a few products showing how ergonomics work! Much better for understanding

[Forever_Muffin]

loved this video. I always like seeing what kind of models and prototypes people do to study ergonomics, as i often get stuck there not knowing how to test things. This was very insightful! Thanks a lot

Also loved the shark haha

[atenamauriello]

Love the little shark face! Another great video - cool to see the different stages you went through to reach the desired design.

[SangamSinha]

Really like the insights! Love the form exploration and the analysis. 👌

[thebigboi]

Absolutely love this design! I could definitely see myself buying it whenever I eventually get a new bass

[marc.levinson]

Dude! Your other channel, Honest Unboxing, is hilarious! What a hoot! You probably shouldn't give a robot a knife again though.

[cafesociety]

I'm designing my own guitar atm but with paper and pencils because I'm a luddite. The foam bodies are a great idea as I was intending to use ply to make mock ups, I'll definitely give this way a try. Thanks.

[iamsuperflush]

How do you think about the competing requirements of designing a guitar/bass for playing while standing vs playing while sitting?

[th]

Torzal guitar’s twisted neck profile is one of the most daring ergonomic engineering I’ve seen for stringed instruments. On par would be Rick Toone’s “Orchid” bass body shape and numerous other inventions!

[honestunboxing]

So gorgeous! The bass isn't bad either. 😏

[rishabhsharma]

Hey! John first of all Regards of the day and thanks for making such comprehensive videos on different topic of design theory because they are really very helpfull and informative.I have one request that can you please make a video on Form Exploration, Form Study or Elements of Forms like how can we derive organic forms out of nature or animals or from our surroundings in general.It would be a great help.
Thanks.

[tasfa]

You probably know this, but the reason why some ergonomic guitars are headless is to help the weigh and balance issue. If you build your instrument to have a very light body, the headstock will cause a neck dive and that forces you to add weigh to the body. But if you completely remove the headstock, not only that's less wood right there which makes the instrument surprisingly lighter but it also allows you to make the body itself lighter without causing a balance problem. I think in terms of ergonomics the Strandbergs may be close to the ultimate guitar design even tho in terms of aesthetics and functionality I'd still change a few things. Maybe the holes you added can also remove just a bit more weigh. I'd even go with those minimalistic Steinbergers if it wasn't for the neck dive! Here I am talking as if I had thousands of euros to waste on more guitars!

[aldoisraelmartinezlopez]

How can you even show it without a sound test outro? :b
Gorgeous bass, professor 🔥

[Comequat]

This is very interesting, do you feel like this is very specifically tailored to your body shape or that it would fit most people?

[MacyLytle]

How much do you think you would have to change if you were making this for a specific more general user group? Or said differently- How many of your design decisions were made specifically for yourself? Did you make this with others in mind or did you specifically form it to yourself, knowing well that if it were to be mass produced, it would need to change?

[amslu]

Can I order a bass from you?:D btw you should also check what Strandberg is doing with guitar ergonomics!

[MichaelStoneham]

what happened to this build idea. are there any other videos adn how did the third design happen. where there others, did you make a final production product, can you share any sound samples.

[WillfulThinker]

Would you mind sharing what that foam is called (other than "foam")? I mean, is it a particular type, and where can I buy some?