People Modelling
Damian Gordon
People in Design
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Ergonomics is the study and activity of
adapting the workplace environment to the
specific needs of people (etymology:
combination of work and economics).
Anthropometrics is the measurement of the
human body in terms of body size, strength,
shape, and work capacity (etymology:
combination of man and measurement).
People in Design
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In ergonomics, anthropometric data is used
to design workspaces, safety equipment and
personal protection tools considering the
differences between the characteristics,
abilities, and physical limits of any particular
human body.
People in Design
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Anthropometrics has a long history, an
interesting place to start is in Paris in 1882
when Alphonse Bertillon introduced the
French police to a new way of distinguishing
and identifying criminals based on a series of
“man measurements”.
Alphonse Bertillon
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Born April 24, 1853
Died February 13, 1914
a French police officer
Biometrics pioneer
Created modern
anthropometry
His other contributions
include the mug shot and the
systematisation of crimescene photography
People in Design
People in Design
Francis Galton
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Born 16 February 1822
Died 17 January 1911
cousin of Charles Darwin,
was an English Victorian
polymath, anthropologist,
eugenicist, tropical explorer,
geographer, inventor,
meteorologist, protogeneticist, psychometrician,
and statistician.
People in Design
People: Modelling
People in Design
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How do built environment practitioners
represent people in design?
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They use a range of approaches, many of
the issues around people are embodied in
legislation and regulation, but the is also a
range of modelling approaches, one example
would be the use of computers to do crowd
modelling.
People in Design
People in Design

How do IT practitioners represent people in
design?
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They use Use Case diagrams, which use
stickmen to represent each type of user, and
oval shapes to represent all of the functions
that the IT system needs to provide.
People in Design
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Let’s take an example of e-mail:
Log in
e-Mail
Read new
messages
Reread
old
messages
Delete
messages
Send new
messages
Users
Create
mailing
list
Log out
Log in
e-Mail
Read new
messages
Reread
old
messages
Delete
messages
Send new
messages
Users
Create
mailing
list
Log out
Administrator
Log in
e-Mail
Read new
messages
Reread
old
messages
Delete
messages
Send new
messages
Users
Create
mailing
list
Log out
Administrator
Delete
email
account
Log in
e-Mail
Read new
messages
Create
new email
account
Reread
old
messages
Delete
messages
Send new
messages
Users
Create
mailing
list
Log out
Administrator
People in Design
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Now that we have reviewed the various
elements in operation when we do even the
simplest of tasks, let us look at them working
in concert, through task analysis.
People: Task Analysis
People in Design

Now that we have reviewed the various
elements in operation when we do even the
simplest of tasks, let us look at them working
in concert, through task analysis.
People in Design
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Task analysis is the process by which any
task is reviewed and a detailed description of
the elements of the activity is developed.
People in Design
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So the first thing we do is to define the task (e.g.
emptying the bins), then we break down the task into
a set of elements that has to be accomplished to
achieve the task.
Then we look at each of those elements and see if
we can break it down into further sub-elements and
so on.
For some elements it will be possible to break them
down into layers and layers of sub-elements,
whereas for other elements they will be fully broken
down to their most basic actions quickly.
People in Design
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This approach is very similar to:
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Top-Down Design
Problem Decomposition
“divide-and-conquer”
People in Design
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The analysis will typically incorporate action
from the three domains we have previously
reviewed:
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Sensory
Cognitive
Activity
People in Design
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Let’s consider a simple example, such as making a
cup of tea.
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We’ll do this in layers, so we start with Layer 0:
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0. Make a cup of tea.
People in Design
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So how do we break this down further?
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We develop Layer 1.
People in Design
Layer 1. Make a cup of tea.
1. Organise everything together;
2. Plug in kettle;
3. Put teabag in cup;
4. Put water into kettle;
5. Add water to cup;
6. Remove teabag with spoon/fork;
People in Design
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Can we go further?
Sure, we develop Layer 2 on each of the
elements of Layer 1, so for example, element 3
“Put teabag in cup”.
People in Design
3. Put teabag in cup;
3.1 REACH to teabox
3.2 OPEN teabox
3.3 GET single teabag;
3.4 MOVE arm to cup;
3.5 PUT teabag in cup;
People in Design
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And each of these steps can be further
broken down into smaller actions.
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We can represent this visually as follows:
0.
Make a cup of
tea
1.
Organise
everything
3.1.
Reach to
teabox
2.
Plug in kettle
3.2.
Open teabox
3.
Put teabag in
cup
3.3.
Get single
teabag
4.
Put water in
kettle
3.4.
Move arm to
cup
5.
Add water to
cup
3.5.
Put teabag in
cup
People in Design
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Timing:
Now can we put times beside each element
of the task.
Let’s say Layer 0 “Make a cup of tea” takes
4-5 minutes. If we put timing beside each of
the elements in Layer 1 and add them up, do
they sum to 4-5 minutes?
People in Design
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We can also look at the actions from the
perspective of the human, so which elements
of the person that we have discussed already
are involved in this task. I’ve provided tables
in the following few slides to help consider
this question...
Task ____________________________________
People
in Design
Sense
Sight
Hearing
Taste
Smell
Touch
Used (y/n)?
Description
People in Design
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Now consider how a mild impairment in each
of the five senses impact this task.
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Now consider how a major impairment in
each of the five senses impact this task.
Task ____________________________________
People
in Design
Cognitive
Perception
Memory
Attention
Used (y/n)?
Description
People in Design
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Now consider how a mild impairment in each
of the three cognitive elements impact this
task.
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Now consider how a major impairment in
each of the three cognitive elements impact
this task.
Task ____________________________________
People
in Design
Activity
Dexterity
Locomotion
Reach
Used (y/n)?
Description
People in Design
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Now consider how a mild impairment in each
of the three activity elements impact this
task.
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Now consider how a major impairment in
each of the three activity elements impact
this task.
People in Design
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Now you try a task analysis on one of the
following:
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Opening a door
Sending text message
Drinking a bottle of water