Anthropometrics, Human Factors & Ergonomics

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Anthropometrics, Human Factors Ergonomics

• Technological Design

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What are Human Factors, Ergonomics
Anthropometrics?
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Anthropometrics

• Anthropometrics
• Anthropometrics is the data which concerns the
  dimensions of human beings.
• Designers need to makes sure that the products
  they design are the right size for the user and
  therefore comfortable to use. Designers have
  access to books of drawings like these which
  state measurements of human beings of all sizes.
• Examples at work

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Knowing about percentiles is an important part of
becoming a responsible designer.
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Human Factors

• Human Factors
• Human factors involves the study of all aspects
  of the way humans relate to the world around
  them, with the aim of improving operational
  performance, safety, through life costs and/or
  adoption through improvement in the experience of
  the end user.
• The science of understanding the properties of
  human capability (Human Factors Science).
• Examples at work

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Did you know that the U.S. military is
responsible for the majority of data on Human
Factors! It was a result out of WWII aircraft
design and engineering.
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Ergonomics

• Ergonomics
• Ergonomics is the scientific discipline concerned
  with designing according to the human needs, and
  the profession that applies theory, principles,
  data and methods to design in order to optimize
  human well-being and overall system performance.
  The field is also called human engineering, and
  human factors engineering.
• Ergonomic research is primarily performed by
  ergonomists, who study human capabilities in
  relationship to their work demands. Information
  derived from ergonomists contributes to the
  design and evaluation of tasks, jobs, products,
  environments and systems in order to make them
  compatible with the needs, abilities and
  limitations of people
• Examples at work..

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A poorly designed work station can produce long
term medical conditions.
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Why should designers be aware of
anthropometrics, human factors and ergonomics?

• Allows designers to accommodate various
  percentiles of the population so the majority of
  people can use and interact with the product or
  service being designed.
• Designers must be aware of human factors,
  anthropometrics and ergonomics to ensure their
  product or service is safe and socially
  responsible. (designing public places is
  especially sensitive to these conditions)

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The Impact of Human Factors, Ergonomics
Anthropometry on Design

• A designer can use Human Factors, Ergonomics
  Anthropometry to their advantage or these things
  may work against their design. Good design
  observes these qualities first because no one
  wants to use or own a product or service which
  carries out the task poorly or dangerously.

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Consider the following.

• A Toilet designed by a fashion designer
• Fashion designers work to a fantasy of what the
  human body looks like. They are taught how to
  draw human figures in a distorted, idealized way.

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The impact designers can have on society

• The two figures in the middle are typical of
  fashion design drawings. Designs are based on
  these oddly proportioned, fantasy, body shapes.
• The figures on either side were statistical
  averages from a series of anthropometrics studies
  done with US military personnel. Whilst limited
  to a select age range and profession, these
  nonetheless are based on measurable and
  observable reality. These are real body shapes. (
  From Human Dimension Interior Space by Julius
  Panero and Martin Zelnilk)

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As illustrated in the two middle sketches of the
human form.
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The Result

• If a product designer were to work off the same
  fantasy body shapes that fashion designers do, a
  typical toilet would look like this.
• None of us would willingly climb a stepladder
  every time we need to use our toilet - how silly
  would that be? And yet, why is it that we
  continue to try and fit into clothes that were
  not designed for our bodies to begin with, or
  shoes that are uncomfortable and damage our feet?
• This is most peculiar.

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The result is a tall, narrow and most
uncomfortable toilet.
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Where can we find information on body sizes,
shapes, standard furniture sizes, etc.?

• Human Factor Texts
• Resource Manuals
• Internet
• Making your own anthropometric data

Henry Dreyfuss, one of Americas first Industrial
Designers was instrumental in using human
dimensions to Improve the products people
interact with on a daily basis.
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Henry Dreyfuss One of Americas First Industrial
Designers

• Dreyfuss was born in Brooklyn, New York. As one
  of the celebrity industrial designers of the
  1930s and 1940s, Dreyfuss dramatically improved
  the look, feel, and usability of dozens of
  consumer products. As opposed to Raymond Loewy
  and other contemporaries, Dreyfuss was not a
  stylist he applied common sense and a scientific
  approach to design problems. His work both
  popularized the field for public consumption, and
  made significant contributions to the underlying
  fields of ergonomics, anthropometrics, and human
  factors.

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Some of Dreyfuss Designs...
Did you know that John Deere hired Dreyfuss to
Modernize the look of the tractor.
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What do we do with all of this data on the human
form?

• In the first slide we observed that there are
  individual differences in human characteristics.
  These follow a normal distribution.   This is
  true with anthropometric measurements. 
• You may have heard the expression "to design for
  the 5th percentile female to the 95th percentile
  male."  This means that for the selected
  anthropometric measure, such as height, the lower
  limit of our range is the height of a 5th
  percentile female and the upper limit is the
  height of a 95th percentile male.  This range
  accommodates 90 of the population for that one
  selected measure.

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Population Variance

• We again use the concept of "population."  This
  is important in anthropometrics as there are
  differences in size and body segment proportions
  due to age, gender, and ethnicity.  So, to
  properly select the data to use, we must know
  something about our population composition, and
  we must know what percentage of the population we
  wish to accommodate.  The anthropometric range
  will be much different if we are designing
  products for male, professional basketball
  players than if we are designing for the general
  public.

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Application of the Anthropometric Data

• In choosing the proper anthropometric
  measurements to use, we must know not only the
  user population, but also the specific
  application or design problem.  If we are
  designing overhead luggage racks for public
  transportation, accommodating 90 of the rider
  population is probably sufficient.  However, if
  we are determining the position of an emergency
  button, we should design to accommodate 99 of
  the rider population, including wheelchair users.

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A Guide to Designing with Human Factors in mind.

• Step 1. Understand Organizational/Mission Need
• Step 2.Understand and Define Context of Use
• Step 3.Perform Function Analysis
• Step 4.Allocate Functions
• Step 5.Analyze and Design Tasks
• Step 6.Design Human-to-System Interfaces
  Workstations

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User/Human-Centered Design Steps
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References, Resources Links

• http//www.ergonomics4schools.com/lzone/anthropome
  try.htm
• www.baddesigns.com
• (a great website to help illustrate bad design
  when thinking of human factors)
• http//www.k-state.edu/udlearnsite/Lesson4.htm
• http//www.hf.faa.gov/Webtraining/HFModel/Variance
  /anthropometrics1.htm
• (an excellent site with a quiz)
• http//www.sil.si.edu/exhibitions/doodles/cf/convi
  ncing.cfm