Body Size

A person’s physical size can be an important factor of experience when considering how to design outcomes involving physical interaction. A person’s physical size can prevent them from walking through doorways without ducking. The size of their fingers can make it frustrating to press buttons on screen-based displays. In some cultures and during different historical periods, “small” or “large” physical size has been both favorably and unfavorably viewed by society. A person’s physical can change over time due to various circumstances.

Knowing a person’s size can help researchers create objects that work in harmony with users’ physical makeup. A person’s physical size can impact their access to resources and how much ease they experience when completing basic tasks. A person whose shoe size is larger than a US 15 can have a very hard time finding shoes; they have access to fewer brands and styles, and shoes typically cost more than ”typical” sizes.

Questions to Ask

• What are this person’s physical dimensions?
• How is a person’s size regarded in the context being studied?
• In what ways does the person’s physical size cause problems when they use products, services, and systems?

Look For

• A person struggling to use something.
• A person who brags about their size.
• A person who actively works to alter their size.