Special accommodations should then be made for those people not covered by the basic design. A percentile is the value along a dimension where the corresponding percentage of the population have that value of the dimension or less. Obviously, are goal as designers should be to be as inclusive as possible, but often we have to do so in the context of budget constraints, etc. Measurement Techniques Measurements are made with tape measures, wall charts, and with calipers, among other specialized instruments used in anthropometry. The basic types of measurement that are taken are listed below.
Circumference is a closed measurement that follows a body contour.
The measurements that you get from people depend to some extent on the postures that they are in. So in addition to having the right measurement tools and techniques, you also need to position the person being measured appropriately, and you need to note what specific postures or positions were used when making your measurements. Figure 5.11 shows reference planes and descriptive terms often used in anthropometry. Since people are not completely symmetrical, measurements differ depending on whether they are taken from the front, back, or side. Due to historical reasons, the various views of the body, as shown in figure 5.11, are expressed in latin terms.