AG00289_.GIF (7750 bytes)

When designing for people we have to consider their measurements and since everyone is different we have to use averages. Males in turn have different overall measurements than women so two sets of data are needed. This science of measurement is called ANTHROPOMETRY. If we were designing for a child the measurements would be considerably smaller and if we were designing for a basketball team the needs would be different again. Usually when information is collected the extremes (very tall, very small very fat, very thin, are ignored because they give a false end result. Below are average measurements of  men and women with the bottom 5% ignored and the top 5% ignored.
These measurement might help you in your designing.

It's all about body measurements folks, and what a body!!!

Ergonomics

Ergonomics can be simplified as being the study of man in relation to his environment.The environment is then adapted to make life more comfortable. One example might be a screwdriver handle that has been designed to fit comfortably in the hand.

Aesthetics

Aesthetics is more concerned with appearance. Trying to design something which will not only be comfortable in use (ergonomic) but also pleasant to look at (aesthetic). Often an in-between result is settled for since something which may be very good looking might be very uncomfortable to use.

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