Predicting product accommodation: The role of the anthropometric fit test

Anthropometry is often considered in product design, but less often in prototype testing. This paper focuses on how to design, conduct and analyse a test that will consider user anthropometry and ensure that the intended user population can be accommodated by the new product. Identifying the target user is the first step in a successful test. It is critical that the sample of individuals used in the fit test should be representative of the intended market for the product, or results will be invalid. Second, the size of the test sample needs to be determined. Sample size for fit tests has to do with the adjustability or sizing of the product (if any) as well as strictly anthropometric concerns. The test design itself depends on the stage of product development. Early testing produces information that can be used to improve the product before it is released. Later, a test might be designed to help create a size selection chart for a sized product. The choice of anthropometric dimensions to be included will depend specifically on the product being tested, but also on the dimensions that have been measured on the target market population. All elements of the test protocol should be validated with a laboratory trial before actual data collection begins. Finally, the edited data should be analysed using statistical techniques appropriate to the questions being asked. In some cases, visual data displays are helpful. The analysis can predict what proportion of the target population will be accommodated. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license.