Art, Craft or Science: Where does 'Vocal Egronomics' fit?

Today is World Voice Day. It was also the final day of the Chartered Institute for Ergonomics and Human Factors conference (so effectively the last day of my UK study tour). It's been an interesting ride and one question seems to have dominated like no other - What does it mean to be a vocal ergonomist?

'Vocal ergonomics' is a relatively new area (for both voice research & ergonomics fields).  As I met Ergonomist from many backgrounds over the last few days, I've been oft asked "So what is vocal ergonomics?". My short answer has been to consider the breadth of the ergonomics remit and then apply it to voice. If we use the International Ergonomics Association definition, vocal ergonomics can apply to a lot!

"Ergonomics (or human factors) is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance".

This includes aspects of physical, cognitive and organizational experience:

http://www.iea.cc/whats/index.html

Yet during the week, we were challenged to consider just what ergonomics means. In a session on Tuesday, Prof Sarah Sharples (University of Nottingham @scsharples) challenged us to consider if ergonomics is an art, science or craft. She's reflected on it in her recent blog post : https://accidentalambassador.wordpress.com/

We seemed to come to the conclusion that it is all three. Often the imagining is art, the execution of process is craft and the evidence base underpinning it is science. But I wonder how that sits with vocal ergonomics. Is vocal ergonomics art, science and craft?

Researchers in the area (Sodersten & Lindhe, 2007; Vilkman, 2004; Sala, Sihvo & Laine, 2005) suggest vocal ergonomics research considers occupational voice use, work related vocal health, and workplace risk factors for voice disorders. This includes increasing knowledge above improved voice production and speech intelligibility across workplace environments.

So as an aspiring Vocal Ergonomist (or vocal ergonomics researcher), am I a scientist, artists or a craftsperson? Perhaps, like ergonomics itself, I'm all three. Much to ponder, but in the mean time, Happy Voice Day!