This study investigated perceived discomforts and those reasons of the young and middle-aged, the aged, the disabled and the pregnant in various daily activities, and elicited universal design factors based on human capacities (physical, sensory, cognitive and affective). A total of eighty people (twenty subjects for each user group) participated in one-to-one interviews about thirty six items of daily activities. A degree of discomfort of the daily activities was measured using Borg's CR10

more »

... e. As a result, the disabled and the pregnant complained about almost all of the daily activities, and their degrees of discomforts were significantly higher than those of the youth and middle-aged and the aged. However, the youth and middle-aged and the aged only complained about some specific items. The major reasons of discomforts were related to physical and affective capabilities in general, where the detailed reasons of each user group were comparatively different. Finally, the universal design factors were elicited for each daily activity item based on the results of each user group. This study can be used to understand the discomforts and characteristics of the aged, the disabled and the pregnant in the various daily activities. The universal design factors elicited can also be applied to design related products and facilities universally.