Ergonomic design of a multilevel writing system for school children

In an interdisciplinary approach a multilevel writing system for (pre-)school children was developed. The main goal was to support the stepwise development of the ideal gripping technique during the write learning process in order to enhance learning and typeface. Therefore four different pens were designed, each to be used at different stages of learning process. In a usability test, composed of graphomotoric exercises, interviews and video observation, 25 subjects evaluated the effectivity and acceptance of the new pens. Results showed that writing with the new pens was fun instead of work. The pens were found comfortable to write with and the targeted gripping technique was widely used among subjects