de Vries, C., Garneau, C. J., Nadadur, G., and Parkinson, M. B. (2010). Proceedings of the 2010 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference. Montreal, Quebec.

In products designed for human variability, the anthropometry (body measurements) of the target user population constitutes a primary source of variability that must be considered in the optimization of the spatial dimensions of the product. Accommodation, which describes the ability of a user to interact with a device or environment in their preferred manner, is a key measure of the performance. Other studies have considered various methods for accounting for the variability in anthropometry in a target user population to calculate estimated accommodation, but few have explicitly considered the effects of secular trends and demographic changes over time on accommodation. This paper considers these changes in the context of a case study involving truck drivers and cab geometry. Continue reading…

Garneau, C. J. and Parkinson, M. B. (2010). Proceedings of the 2010 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference. Montreal, Quebec.

This study presents a novel, quantitative tool for design decision-making for products designed for human variability. Accommodation, which describes the ability of a user to interact with a device or environment in a preferred way, is a key product performance metric. Methods that offer a better understanding of accommodation of broad user populations would allow for the design of products that are more cost-effective, safer, and/or lead to greater levels of customer satisfaction. Continue reading…