The objective of this paper is to present and discuss the use of an intermediary object, built from the ergonomic work analysis, in a participative design process. The object was a zoning pattern, developed as a visual representation ‘mapping’ of the interrelations among the functional units of the offshore accommodations module. The ergonomic work analysis is a method that favors the identification of everyday problems, so having direct link to participatory structures. And the developed zoning pattern tool seemed to be an appropriate way of transferring the use experience into the design process.