How do we measure?
When we want to design or improve a product, we first need to consider how we interact with it and what body parts we use when doing so. Take your mobile phone: the width of it needs to comfortably sit in your hand, with a touchscreen size that you can operate with your thumb, and the length of the phone for you to listen to a call and speak into the microphone. These sizes are all dictated by the human body.
We measure these body parts in lots of different people using a series of tools called anthropometers. These are usually rulers modified to fit various body parts, or protractors to measure angles of the body.
By measuring lots of different people, we can work out how big or small they are in the population, referred to as a percentile. We then make a design to accommodate a wide range of this percentile ensuring products are comfortable, not too big, and not too small.
By knowing people’s measurements, we can work out the ideal height for chairs, the ideal size of a table tennis bat, or even what sports people might be suited to.
Designing to accommodate differences in human body sizes