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Updated: Feb 24, 2026

Multipronged Phenotyping Approaches to Characterize Sugarcane Root Systems
Published on: August 17, 2022
How do users design? The case of sugar cane harvester machines
Lidiane Regina Narimoto1, João Alberto Camarotto1
1Department of Production Engineering, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil.
Background:
Design in use and inventiveness are key concepts in ergonomics. It is well-known that users design but is not explored in the literature how they manage to do that.
Objective:
This paper aims to contribute to the discussion of how users actually design, by showing a research conducted in sugar cane harvesting in Brazil and in Australia.
Methods:
Through the methodology of the Ergonomic Work Analysis (EWA), the design modifications made by the harvesting teams were identified as well as their elaboration process.
Results:
Three categories of modifications in machines' design were identified: structural, functional and operational and they were more numerous in Brazilian situations. It is proposed that two theories underlying the theme are intertwined: the instrument-mediated activity approach and the design as bricolage.
Conclusions:
It is argued that users design through the articulation of: a) the operators' activity, b) the mechanical technicians' inventory to practice bricolage as a way of designing and c) the work organisation and the existence of social spaces of interaction between these two subjects.
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