‘Beyond Jack and Jill’: designing for individuals using HADRIAN

Abstract

In order to support the practice of ‘design for all’ within the design community two key areas have been identified that are critical to success. The first is the provision of accurate and relevant data on the target users, in this case people of all shapes, sizes, ages and abilities. The second is the efficient and effective support in the use of these data during concept generation and product development. A database of individual people was created including their 3D anthropometry and functional abilities. Data sets for individuals are kept intact, a radical departure from the traditional approach which involves effectively ‘dismembering’ people to create tables of percentiles for every dimension of interest. This database is accessed by HADRIAN, our CAD-based design tool, which is integrated with the SAMMIE CAD human modelling system. Using this system, proposed designs of products or services can be automatically evaluated for each individual in the database, based upon criteria set by the designer (e.g. access, reach, vision, mobility and strength). The tool can identify which individuals will be ‘designed in’ or ‘designed out’ and can support the designer in modifying the proposed design to achieve a greater percentage of people accommodated. Relevance to industry ‘Design for all’ will remain only a philosophical approach for most designers unless they have access to appropriate design tools that complement their working methods. Few designers understand the intricacies of using percentile values for anthropometric data when exploring multivariate accommodation issues. HADRIAN has been developed specifically to support designers in managing these issues at the concept and product development stages of design.