Designing for Humans: Jonathan Puleio on 20 Years of Ergonomics at Humanscale

To mark the 20th anniversary of Humanscale’s ergonomics consultancy, Design Insider Editorial Director Alys Bryan met with Jonathan Puleio, MS CPE, Global Vice President at Humanscale, for an in-depth conversation on his career, philosophy, and vision for the future.

Jonathan shared how a pivot from acoustical engineering led him into the world of ergonomics — a field where he’s spent over two decades shaping healthier, more human-centred work environments. Their discussion covered the consultancy’s evolution from in-person assessments to a global digital service, the development of the new Ergo AP certification for architects and designers, and how ergonomics thinking is becoming integral to workplace design. What emerged was a clear picture of a leader passionate about making work better — through science, education, and purposeful design.

Jonathan Puleio, MS CPE, Global Vice President at Humanscale

Before becoming a global advocate for ergonomic design, Jonathan Puleio had a very different career in mind. A self-confessed audiophile, he entered Cornell University planning to become an acoustical engineer. Jonathan recalls:

“I was interested in audio technology and its role in recreating live experiences. I envisioned myself designing speaker systems, amplifiers, and even concert halls.”

But majoring in acoustics wasn’t an option at Cornell. Instead, Jonathan was encouraged to speak with Professor Alan Hedge, head of the university’s human factors and ergonomics programme. It was in a course on acoustics and lighting for office and industrial environments that he first discovered a field that aligned with how he instinctively thought about the world.

A naturally analytical thinker, Jonathan had always questioned how products were designed — often wondering why objects like remote controls were laid out the way they were. “I realised I’d been seeing things through an ergonomics lens all along, just without the skill set to make sense of it all,” he says.

That realisation evolved into a full academic pursuit — and eventually, a career committed to applying human factors and ergonomics to real-world environments.

Building from the Ground Up

Jonathan joined Humanscale in 2002, his first role after graduate school. Initially hired as a subject matter expert, his early days were focused on educating the market.

“In the early 2000s, we were still spelling the word ergonomics,” he reflects. Jonathan spent his time visiting existing Humanscale customers, furniture dealerships, and design firms delivering talks that translated ergonomic theory into meaningful practice. It was an ambitious effort to embed ergonomics into design thinking — and it paid off.

But after several years of delivering hundreds of similar talks, he wanted to evolve his role. Drawing on earlier experience with an ergonomics consultancy based in New York, Jonathan proposed creating an in-house consulting division at Humanscale — a bold move that would define the next 20 years of his career.

“Humanscale was my first employer out of graduate school… after presenting a business plan, I was given the green light to pursue a consultancy — and I’ve spent the last 20 years building it from the ground up with my team.”

Reframing the Relationship Between Work and Body

Before reflecting on the consultancy’s anniversary, Jonathan took a moment to define the core of ergonomics. The word itself comes from the Greek ergon (work) and nomos (laws), but the true focus, he explains, is simple: fit between people and their work environment.

“The goal is simply to improve the fit between the work environment and the body to improve comfort, reduce risk of injury, and to improve the worker’s efficiency.”

Ergonomics isn’t about teaching people to adapt to poor environments — it’s about reshaping environments to support neutral postures and promote natural movement. Jonathan describes seeing workers “working fairly hard to conform their body” to fixed desks, screens and task chairs. These long-term adjustments can lead to real physical harm.

Designing workspaces around the body isn’t just a health initiative — it’s a business advantage, supporting productivity and long-term wellbeing.

Celebrating 20 Years: Evolving from Assessments to Industry Innovation

In 2025, Humanscale marks 20 years since launching its ergonomics consultancy — a service that’s grown from simple site visits to a global platform for workplace wellbeing.

“When we started, we focused on what in the UK are called DSE assessments,” Jonathan explains. Trained ergonomists would visit workplaces to evaluate setups and recommend changes. These one-on-one assessments laid the foundation for a much larger mission.

The team soon expanded into employee training, aimed at empowering employees to properly configure their workstations for long-term comfort and health. From there, a two-day ergonomics certification course was developed for health and safety professionals who were tasked with conducting ergonomic assessments but lacked formal training. Since its launch, more than 8,000 professionals have completed the course.

Demand also grew in industrial settings — environments with risks like heavy lifting, repetitive motion and vibration. Humanscale began working with manufacturers to reduce injury risk and improve workflow through tailored interventions.

A pivotal moment came with Humanscale’s entry into healthcare. Jonathan’s team helped redesign the ubiquitous computer-on-wheels workstation, making it easier to adjust and more responsive to clinical demands. This led to wider consulting around safe patient handling, helping reduce nurse injuries from lifting.

They also expanded into lab ergonomics, assessing tasks involving fume hoods, micropipettes and centrifuges. In every case, the focus remained on the same principle: adapt the environment to match the capabilities and limitations of the human body.

When the pandemic hit, Humanscale made another significant shift — taking its entire consultancy model online.

“Inspired by telemedicine, we developed a software system that connected employees to our network of board-certified ergonomists. It allowed us to deliver workstation guidance globally, wherever employees were working.”

Adapting at Speed: The Rise of ergoIQ

Luckily, that digital transition was already underway. Just before the pandemic, Humanscale had launched ergoIQ, a proprietary software platform that brought ergonomics expertise into the virtual realm.

Jonathan says:

“Four months after we launched ergoIQ in late 2019, the pandemic hit. Overnight there was an immediate need to support millions of employees working from home. ergoIQ FIT, our cloud based self-assessment had arrived just in time.”

Designed to deliver the expertise of a board-certified ergonomist, ergoIQ is a rules-based, expert system that guides computer users through the process of properly configuring their workstation. The platform has continued to evolve each year since, adding new capabilities to meet the demands of hybrid work.

The platform is now a key part of Humanscale’s global strategy — one that ensures ergonomics support is scalable, intuitive, and accessible.

What’s Next: Going Global and Educating Designers

As the consultancy enters its third decade, its vision is global. Humanscale now works with some of the world’s largest organisations, designing, implementing, and managing corporate ergonomics programs — through a network of over 80 ergonomists worldwide. Jonathan explains:

“We’ve worked tirelessly to build a global partner network that can deliver consistent, world-class ergonomics consulting in any time zone.” 

And the consultancy isn’t just expanding geographically — it’s moving deeper into the design community. Jonathan and his team have developed a new certification programme, Ergo AP (Accredited Professional) for architects and interior designers.

“We’ve realised there’s a serious disconnect — ergonomics isn’t a core component of design education, even though designers acknowledge its importance.”

Traditionally, A&D firms have relied on manufacturers to provide CPD sessions on ergonomics. Ergo AP takes it further — offering a two-day course that blends theory with application. Day one introduces key ergonomic principles; day two is focused on integrating ergonomics principles into real-world spatial designs.

Set to launch in summer 2025, the course will run both virtually and in-person at Humanscale showrooms across the globe. The goal is to build in-house ergonomics expertise within each A&D firm to raise the standard of workplace design and deliver more functional, human-centred solutions.

Purpose and Passion: Why the Work Still Matters

After two decades, Jonathan’s passion for ergonomics remains strong — because the outcomes are so tangible. He describes moments where individual employees, overwhelmed by pain relief, have been moved to tears after simple changes to their setup.

“It’s easy to be passionate about a discipline like ergonomics. Helping others is always rewarding, especially when it involves their health and wellness.”

While the science behind ergonomics has remained remarkably consistent, the context in which it’s applied has shifted dramatically. The rise of sit-stand desks, the complexity of multi-monitor setups, and the mass move to remote work have all changed how ergonomic principles are implemented. Jonathan says:

“The body hasn’t changed. But our work environments, our technology and our tasks have — so there are always opportunities to adapt and innovate.”

Whether supporting employees remotely, rethinking product design, or empowering the next generation of designers, Humanscale Consulting continues to lead the charge. And for Jonathan Puleio, the mission remains the same: to make work better for people.

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