2. 4.

1 INTRODUCTION
3. What is anthropometry? • Measurement of the human body.
4. Anthropometric information describes the dimensions of the human body, usually
through the use of bony landmarks to which height, breadths, depths, distances,
circumferences and curvatures are measured.
5. Anthropometry and its uses • Body size and proportion vary greatly between different
population and racial groups-a fact which designers must never lose sight of when
designing for international market.

6. Importance of anthropometric considerations in design  If a piece of equipment…

Would fit roughly • 25% of Thais • - 10% of Vietnamese
7. It is usually impracticable and expensive to design products individually to suit the
requirements of every user. • Mass-produced and designed to fit a wide range of users-the
custom tailor, dressmaker, and cobbler are perhaps the only remaining examples of truly
user-oriented designers in western industrial societies.
8. Availability of anthropometric data • Anthropometry of military populations is usually
well documented and is used in the design of everything from cockpits to ranges and sizes
of boots and clothing. • Data are available for U.S., British, and other European groups, as
well as Japanese citizens. • Pheasant (1986) provides a useful and well-illustrated
collection of anthropometric data and a method of estimating unknown anthropometric
dimensions from data on stature. • Problems with much of the anthropometric data from
the United States and Europe are the age of the data and the lack of standardization
across surveys.
9. 4.2 designing for population of users
10. INTRODUCTION
11. What is Population ?
12. Engineering Anthropometry for Design • Design Idea • Accommodate the body
characteristics of the population • Universal operability is 90-95% of the population • Build
in adjustment to meet objectives • Some dimensions only require one set of dimensions •
Example: 95% reach
13. Human Variability • Is there a Average Human? • Humans vary in dimensions based on •
Gender • Ethnic groups • Nationalities • Etc. • Over 300 anthropometric measurements on
the body • It is hard to say that any one person is 50%-tile on all measurements • Factors
affecting Anthropometric data • Age – body dimensions begin to increase with age and
then decrease around 40 • Gender – men are generally larger than women at any given
percentile and body dimensions except hips and thighs • Ethnic differences cause further
differences • Body Position • Posture affect size • Clothing – clothing adds to body size
plus restricts movement
14. Design and Use of Anthropometric Data • Design for the Extreme -- An attempt to
accommodate all (or nearly all) of the population • Design for the maximum – if maximum
value accommodates all (e.g., height of door, escape hatch in airplane) • Design for the
minimum – if minimum value determines if all are accomodated (e.g., distance to control
button from the operator (reach); amount of force to press a button) • Design for
Adjustable Range – design to accommodate all (e.g., office chairs, desk height, key board
height) • Range typically is 5th percentile of females to the 95th percentile of males in
relevant characteristics • Design for the Average – there is no average human • There are
times when the average may be acceptable (e.g., counter height at grocery store)
15. Design and Use of Anthropometric Data • Design Principles Discussion • Setting limits
to 5th and 95th percentiles can eliminate a fairly high percentage of population • Bittner
(1974) – looked at 5th and 95th percentiles on 13 dimensions • Would have excluded 52%
of population instead of 10% implied by percentiles • Why? – body measurements are not
 perfectly correlated • Short arms  short legs • To derive composite measures taking into
account imperfect correlations requires regression analysis
16. Percentile Covered • Herman Miller found that chairs theoretically designed to fit the 5th-
percentile female to the 95th-percentile male actually fit far fewer people (Dowell, 1995a).
Source: Herman Miller Workplace
Researchhttp://www.hermanmiller.com/research/essays/aeronessay2/essay2.html
17. Design and Use of Anthropometric Data • General approach • Determine body
dimensions important in the design Example: chair popliteal height (lower leg length), seat
depth (buttock to popliteal length) hip breadth, midshoulder sitting height (back height),
elbow height, lumbar height lumbar depth • Define population (e.g., adult - male, adult -
female, children) • Determine what principle should be applied • Select % of population to
be accommodated • Locate anthropometric tables appropriate for the population • If
special clothing worn – add allowances • Build prototype and test using representative
tasks • Anthropometric data • Structural dimensions – taken in standard & still positions •
Functional dimensions – obtained in various work postures
18. POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES
19. 4.3 Anthropometry and its uses
20. The approach of ergonomics is to consider product dimensions in human terms in view
of the constraints placed on their design by body size variability. • example:- a seat should
be no higher than popliteal the height of a short user and no deeper than the distance from
the buttocks to the knees.
21. Types of anthropometric data • Structural anthropometric data are measurements of the
bodily dimensions of subjects in fixed (static) positions. • Some examples of the use of
structural anthropometric data are to specify furniture dimensions and ranges of
adjustment and to determine ranges of clothing sizes.
22. Limitations on the use of structural data • Structural data may be used for design in
situations where people are adopting static postures • Caution should be used when
applying these data to design problems that involve movement, particularly skilled
movement.
23. Functional anthropometric data • Functional anthropometric data are collected to
describe the movement of a body part with respect to a fixed reference point • example,
data are available concerning the maximum forward reach of standing subjects •
Functional anthropometric data are useful for designing workspaces and positioning
objects within them, particularly in the design of aircraft cockpits, crane cabs, vehicle
interiors and complex control panels in the process industries
24. 4.4 PRINCIPLES OF APPLIED ANTHROPOMETRY
25. Applying statistics to design • the designer has to analyze in what ways (if any)
anthropometric mismatches might occur • decide which anthropometric data might be
appropriate to the problem
26. In many design applications, mismatches occur only at one extreme (only very tall or
very short people are affected) and the solution is to select either a maximum or a
minimum dimension • If the design accommodates people at the appropriate extreme of
the anthropometric range, less-extreme people will be accommodated
29. Using Percentiles • Since most body dimensions are normally distributed, follows a
symmetric bell curve • Percentiles tell you how well/bad you are doing, compared to the
rest of the population.
30. Using Percentiles It bears repeating that percentiles are a comparison score. The
number of a percentile represents how well or how poorly you did as compared to other
students. It does not represent the number of questions you answered correctly. If you
score in the 70th percentile, you scored better than 70 out of 100 people who took the test.
If you score in the 50th, read this as better than 50 people who took the test.*
Anthropometrics is the study of the human body and its movements. Especially in terms of its
measurements. But ergonomics is the scientific discipline that involves designing products.
And environments to match the individuals who use them. While anthropometrics involves
the systematic measurement of the physical properties of the human body (height, weight,
shape, arm length, etc.). Ergonomic involves incorporating anthropometric data. In designing
products and environments. For instance, anthropometrics may involve measuring the
circumference of heads of a target population. And obtaining an average value. Whereas
ergonomics may use this average head circumference value to design safety helmets.

Anthropometrics involve research that includes measurements of the human body. While
ergonomics involves using anthropometric data. When designing products to improve user
experience. The primary difference between anthropometrics and ergonomics is their focus
and use. Anthropometric data helps designers to design their products.
For instance, when designing a hairdryer. Measurements like the average height of users and
the length of average arms. Become useful to decide the shape of the handle and the distance
to be held from the head. When taking measurements from a target population for a specific
product design. Designers generally derive an average value (midpoint) as the final
measurement. Anthropometrics plays an important role in various fields such as furniture
design, clothing design, architecture, and ergonomics.

Ergonomics is the scientific discipline of designing products and environments to match the
people who use them. It incorporates anthropometric data when designing products to
improve user experience. For example, when you manufacture a door handle. You use the
measurements of the hand to design the shape and size of the handle. The same theory applies
to designing various products such as furniture, vehicles, clothes, etc.

On occasions, designers don’t use anthropometric data in designing products. It may lead to
users’ discomfort, pain, or even injury. Moreover, size, shape, weight, the position of
controls, etc. Are measurements that contribute to ergonomic designing. In addition to
anthropometric data, ergonomics also uses data from several disciplines. Such as
biomechanics (muscles, forces, strength, levers) and environmental physics (noise, heat, cold,
light, radiation, etc.)

ERGONOMISTS CAN HELP US

IDENTIFY WHICH USER
CHARACTERISTICS WE
SHOULD TAKE INTO
ACCOUNT DURING OUR
DESIGN PROCESS.
This is important when we consider how much individuals vary in terms of:

 Body Size
 Strength
 Mobility
 Sensory Sensitivity
 Mental Ability
 Experience
  Training
 Culture
 Emotions

CATEGORIES OF ERGONOMICS: There are three broad areas of ergonomics,

namely-

Physical ergonomics looks at how human anatomical, anthropometric, physiological, and

biomechanical characteristics relate to physical activity. This includes:

 Working Postures
 Manual Handling
 Repetitive Movements
 Musculoskeletal Disorders
 Workplace Layout and Environment

Psychological ergonomics studies mental processes (eg perception, cognition,

memory, reasoning, and emotion). And how people interact with products,
systems, and environments. This includes:

 Mental Workload
 Decision-Making
 Human-Computer Interaction
 Human Reliability
 Attitudes
 Stress
 Motivation
 Pleasure
 Cultural Differences

Organizational ergonomics is about optimizing the organizational structures,

policies, and processes of socio-technical systems. This includes:

To ensure that you keep your end users’ needs in focus at all times. You should make
ergonomists an integral part of your design development team.

 Communication
 Work Design
 Staff Resource Management
 Working Time Patterns
 Co-operative Work
 Quality Management
 Organizational Culture
31. Determine Single Point Select desired percentile Determine k Calculate P Determine
Range Select upper and lower percentile Determine kmax and kmin Calculate Pmax and
Pmin Range = Pmax - Pmin Using Percentiles
32. Anthropometry Problem #1 • The instructor’s height is 170 cm. What percentile is his
stature among US Adult males? US stature mean = 175.6 cm, SD = 6.7 cm. • Use the
formula p= m + k (SD) • Solve for k = -0.8358 • Find the corresponding value of k in the z
table. • That would be your answer : 0.2005 = 20th percentile. • This means, I am taller
than 20% of the US adult males.
33. Anthropometry Problem #2 • What is the stature of a 85th percentile female? Mean
stature : 1629 mm, SD = 64 mm. • My popliteal height is 38.5cm. What percentile is my
popliteal height among the US population? Mean popliteal height : 434 mm, SD = 25 mm.
34. Minimum dimensions • A door handle must not be lower than the highest standing
knuckle height in a population so that all users can open the door without stooping
35. The width of a chair must be no narrower than the hip breadth of a large woman
36. The height of a doorway must be no lower than the stature of a tall man (plus an
allowance for clothing and shoes).
37. Maximum dimensions • A door lock must be no higher than the maximum vertical reach
of a small person.
38. Seat heights and depths must not exceed the maximum height  and buttock–knee
lengths of small users
39. Steps to Apply Anthropometric Data • Select those anthropometric measures that
directly relate to defined design dimensions. • Examples : hand length related to handle
size. 2. For each of these pairings, determine whether the design must fit only one given
percentile (minimal or maximal) of the body dimension, or a range along that body
dimension. • Examples : the escape hatch must be big enough to accommodate the
largest extreme value of shoulder breadth and hip breadth, considering clothing and
equipment worn;
40. Steps to Apply Anthropometric Data 3. Combine all selected design values in a careful
drawing, mock-up, or computer model to ascertain that they are compatible. • For
example: the required leg-room clearance height, needed for sitting persons with long
lower legs, may be very close to the height of the working surface determined from elbow
height.
41. Steps to Apply Anthropometric Data 4. Determine whether one design will fit all users. If
not, several sizes or adjustment must be provided to fit all users. • Examples are: one
extra large bed size fits all sleepers; gloves and shoes must come in different sizes; seat
heights of office chairs are adjustable.
42. Designing to fit the body • Normal distribution often used to describe certain measures
(depends on sample size) • Central Limit Theorem • There is no true average human • Use
the following steps • Select measurements that relate to the design • Determine if design is
to fit a certain percentile or a range • Combine values to ascertain compatibility •
Determine if one design will fit all users
43. 4.5 designing for everyone
44. Designing for everyone
45. 1. Make different sizes • Design same product with several different sizes. • Use
anthropometry data to determine a minimum number of different sizes and the dimensions
of each size that accommodate all users. • Example: hand tool--- screw driver or
chopsticks
46. Example: screwdriver • Research: to evaluate the effects of the length of the chopsticks
on the food-serving performance of adults and children The results showed that the food-
pinching performance was affected by the length of the chopsticks, and that chopsticks of
about 240 and 180 mm long were optimal for adults and pupils, respectively. Longer
chopsticks require greater effort to exert same pinch force at tip than shorter chopsticks.
47. 2.Design adjustable products • Alternative approach to manufacture product whose
critical dimensions can be adjusted by users. • Steps:
48. Seat work Desk • The seat height should not higher than popliteal height of user so that
both feet can rested firmly on the floor to support the weight of the lower legs. • Desk
height should coincide with the user’s sitting elbow height.
49. EXAMPLE:
50. 3. Anthropometry and personal space • Defined as the area immediately around the
body. • 2 important issues: (1) volume of space regarded as personal territory (2)
consequences of an invasion of this space by others • Design decisions regarding: (1) the
sizes and spacing of seats in public areas (2) the proximity of desks (3) take account of
people’s space requirements (4) particular social context. • Minimum separation of desks
and benches approximately 1.2m is thought to be needed in workplace.