Transcripts
...and now for another Human Factors Minute!
The Virtual Fit Multivariate Anthropometric Tool was developed by HFES in collaboration with Penn State University to make multivariate accommodation estimates for North American users.
The tool works by calculating the percent of the population that would be able to be accommodated by a specific design, and it also allows specification based on gender proportion. It uses a multivariate analysis approach, which is based on the idea that designs can fail to fit users in multiple ways. A product may be designed too short for one person, or too narrow, but this failure to fit in both situations may not always be shared by the same person.
Designs may use multiple anthropometric measures. For example, a chair can be measured in several ways such as seat depth, seat width, and seat height. This tool allows designers and ergonomists to check their measurements for the highest percent accommodation that they intend.
When considering a real world use case of a standing workstation desk, the tool can be used by entering the dimensions for the product into The Virtual Fit spreadsheet. First, the estimated gender proportion of users is populated into the tool. Then, when the height of the surface desk is entered into the tool, the designer or ergonomist will be given a percent of the population that will be appropriately accommodated by this dimension.
You can use the Virtual Fit Tool for free via the Penn State website (https://www.openlab.psu.edu/tools/vft/).
This has been another Human Factors Minute!
