Subject study

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To know the positioning of a product in a market, it is important to analyse the competition using benchmarking. It is a matter of comparing different products on the same criteria in order to locate our particular product, and to define one or more criteria for possible improvement. We also consulted the opinions on the Internet.

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We published a survey to identify user expectations. 

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Finally, we decided to take into account 2 types of life situations:

• The so-called "normal" life situations, i.e. the most frequent conditions of use, those that the designers first thought of. Example: taking into account the variety of floor type in households in France, the presence of furniture that may interfere with the task to be performed.... 

• The so-called "degraded" life situations, i.e. less common but reasonably conceivable conditions. Example: stairs, car, no power socket... 

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Experimental protocol

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In our previous analyses and particularly in the naive analysis, we asked ourselves a question: "Does this vacuum cleaner have good usability? 
Speaking of usability, we want to talk:

• Effectiveness, i.e. the ability of the vacuum cleaner to provide the best performance,

• Efficiency, i.e. the performance of the vacuum cleaner,

• Satisfaction, i.e. the user's feeling.

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The elements we want to focus on are more precisely:

• Carpet vacuuming, more precisely the performance of the product in this area, and the satisfaction of the testers

• The cognitive ergonomics of 2 elements: the dust container and the brush flap

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The subjects chosen were 9 people, including 4 women, UTBM students, on the following criteria: same age group, mixed gender, having already used a sled vacuum cleaner. 

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Other analysis

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We carried out the following analyses:

• Sound level measurement (with a sound level meter): does the vacuum cleaner meet the standards in terms of sound level and frequency?

• Biomechanical analysis (with Captiv software): what are the positions and actions adopted by users, and are they dangerous according to standards? 

• Anthropometric analysis: are the dimensions of the vacuum cleaner compatible with 95% of users? 

• Effort test (with a dynamometer): Are the efforts required to handle the vacuum cleaner dangerous, knowing that a force becomes critical when it is equal to 10% of the user's maximum force? 

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