Automotive Ergonomics

37Are You Sitting Comfortably?

An excellent source of general anthropometric data can be found in Adultdata

(Peebles and Norris, 1998), but when referring to ergonomics and consumer prod-

uct design, even the authors of this anthropometry ‘bible’, note: ‘a programme

of testing and evaluation—involving technical, user and simulation testing—is

always necessary’.

3.3.4.2 User Trials

So, participants who have been chosen based on their anthropometry (to ensure that the

extremes of the intended user population are represented), evaluate a buck or a working

prototype on a one-to-one basis, in a controlled laboratory or test track environment.

The purpose of such a user trial is to elicit information from a group of participants ...