Ergonomics and Anthropometrics

Ergonomics

Everyone has heard of ergonomics - after all, the word is widely used in advertisements for cars, kitchens, computers and many other everyday objects. But to think if ergonomics simply as a way of designing things that are more comfortable to use misses the point somewhat - there is much more to it than that.

So what exactly is ergonomics its a big word that means 'fit', the fit between people and the things they use. It is sometimes called human factors.

If people are comfortable using, handling sitting at something, for example, they will make fewer mistakes.

The goal of ergonomics is to design jobs to fit people. This means taking account of differences such as size, strength and ability to handle information for a wide range of users. Then the tasks, the workplace and tools are designed around these differences. The benefits are improved efficiency, quality and job satisfaction. The costs of failure include increased error rates and physical fatigue - or worse. 

Children are smaller, they need to be considered carefully when designing furniture for example, so that they are able to sit properly without discomfort.

Even the simplest of products can be a nightmare to use if poorly designed. Our ancestors didn't have this problem. They could simply make things to suit themselves. These days, the designers of products are often far removed from the end users, which makes it vital to adopt an ergonomic, user-centred approach to design, including studying people using equipment, talking to them and asking them to test objects. This is especially important with 'inclusive design' where everyday products are designed with older and disabled users in mind.

Anthropometrics

In simple terms Anthropometrics is about the body and its measurements. If you are designing picnic furniture you should be looking at how the body fits into or onto a seat. You should also be looking at how high the table top is so you can be sure you can get your legs under it and that it is not too high. For this you  need to measure loads of people so that you can get the best 'overall' fit. Don't forget to include everybody. Young, old, tall, small, fat ,thin and different races of people if you are designing for a specific country. If a chair has arms they need to be in the right place so you can lean on them. In other words, if you have no idea of how big folk are you cannot begin to design something that they will use.

Anthropometric Data

The information below is Information about the British person.
You would ignore the 5% 0f the those measured because they are too big and 5% who would be too small. Don't forget children are smaller. Don't forget also that in general women are smaller than men. The two images below give you an idea of the sizes you should be looking at when designing furniture. You don't need to remember the measurements for the test but you should study the diagrams so you can answer questions like 'what would you need to consider when designing for the average person sitting at a picnic table?' 'Why does your reach matter when you are designing a table?'

You know even if you measure bodies to help make an item that s MEGA ergonomic, it still wont sell unless it is Aesthetic (good looking). Look here for aesthetics.