Designers who make products to fit children face challenges, especially lack of current anthropometric data. BY CONVENTION AND HABIT, WE DESIGN jobs and tasks, machinery and tools, workplaces and furniture to accommodate the fictional "normal person" among healthy 20- to 40-year adults. Yet, of the approximately 285 million people in the United States, about 25% are children and teenagers (U.S. Census Bureau, http://www.census.gov/main/). This percentage translates to more than 71 million youngsters who are "nonnormal" in body sizes and abilities. This is a segment of our population especially dear to us. Also, it is most dependent on the sound judgment of others for its well-being. That informed judgment should certainly extend to the design of products for (or used around) our young people. In this article, I describe some of the design-relevant challenges and possibilities encountered when creating ergonomic workspaces for children and adolescents.
展开▼
