Back to the full dot-point answer
SingaporeDesign and TechnologyQuick questions
Research and Investigation
Quick questions on Anthropometrics and ergonomics explained: O-Level Design and Technology
4short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What are anthropometrics?Show answer
Anthropometrics is the collection and use of measurements of the human body, such as standing and sitting height, eye height, shoulder and hip width, arm reach, hand length and grip. These data come in tables for different populations, often by age and sex. A designer looks up the relevant measurement to set a product's dimension: the reach needed for a shelf, the width needed for a seat, the grip diameter for a handle.
What are ergonomics?Show answer
Ergonomics is the wider study of how people interact with products and environments. It uses anthropometric data, but also considers comfort, posture, effort, the senses (can the user see and reach the controls?), and safety. Good ergonomics means a product is comfortable, efficient and safe to use, with the design fitted to the human rather than forcing the human to adapt. Anthropometrics provides the numbers; ergonomics applies them with judgement.
What are percentiles?Show answer
Body measurements vary across a population, so designers use percentiles. A percentile tells you the proportion of people below a given measurement. The 5th percentile is a small user (only 5 percent are smaller); the 50th percentile is the average; the 95th percentile is a large user (only 5 percent are larger). Designing for the 5th to 95th percentile range covers about 90 percent of users.
What is choosing the right percentile for each dimension?Show answer
The skill is matching each dimension to the correct extreme:
Have a question we have not covered?
This dot-point answer is short enough that we have not extracted many short questions yet. Read the full dot-point answer or ask Mo, our study assistant, in the chat for follow ups.