Modeling for Japanese Hoe Design by using Kansei Engineering

Urban Farm DB summary

This study in Japan constructed a design model for Japanese hoes used in community and home gardens, aiming to tailor them to users' physiques, strength, and ease of use, employing Kansei Engineering. Based on three-point task analysis and extracted Kansei elements of usability, a network-structured design model was proposed. The relationships between handle length and ease of work, and moment of inertia and ease of swinging, were experimentally determined using the Magnitude Estimation method, revealing the potential to evaluate commercial hoes and improve designs according to user height and muscle strength.