Ergonomics

Ergonomics ('Ergon' means work, 'nomos' means natural law) is the application of scientific information about human beings to design applications such as equipment, tools, work tasks, with the aim of improving safety and efficiency.

Anthropometrics ('Anthropos' means man, 'metrics' is measurement) is the branch of ergonomics which deals with measurements of the physical characteristics of human beings, paticularly their sizes and shapes. Human dimensions are important in the design of tools and the environments in which they are used - ranging from roller-coasters to submarines. Applications for anthropometrics can be found in all areas of design. All types of furniture from seating to storage units,consumer products ranging from cooking pots to computer terminals will be better suited to their purpose if their dimensions are matched to those of their users.

Only under very special circumstances it is possible to customize a product for a single user as this is not economically efficient. Some examples of this are haute couture, motor racing, astronautics and the rehabilitation of severely disable. Anthropometrics aims to create products which will accommodate as much people as possible from a variety of sizes, shapes and characteristics, also referred to as a target population. The aim in fitting the product to the user, should be to achieve an acceptable dimensional match for the whole target population or the greatest possible number of the population. With these constraints it may be advantageous to contrive an optimal match of the average person who is the most probable user.