Anthropometrics of digital design - well known examples or case studies?

Question

An interesting area of study in human factor and ergonomic design is anthropometry, which looks at the size and proportion of the human body.

While this has a very specific application in a wide-range of areas in the design of physical objects, I haven't come across much of this type of analysis when it comes to the design of physical objects with digital applications (e.g. smart phones) or the design of virtual objects or interactions (e.g. AR and voice control).

I am sure that many of the IoT devices being designed at the moment will follow some of the principles involved, but I am interested to know if there are case studies of the use of anthropometrics to create a better user experiences. Are there any well known examples that has been published?

A similar question with some results is the size of buttons on screens.

Answer 1

For example Luke Wroblewski has talked a lot about thumb reach when using a smartphone. You might have seen this image:

(c) Luke Wroblewski

In Designing for Large Screen Smartphones he says:

On large screens (over four inches) those kinds of behaviors can stretch people’s thumbs well past their comfort zone as they try to reach controls positioned at the top of their device.

In Designing for Thumb Flow he goes through a design process for an application usable only with one thumb.

So when it comes to designing for mobile, it makes sense to follow the thumb.

Google Scholar search for handheld device ergonomics yields a lot more usable material on the subject.