SIST-TP CEN ISO/TR 9241-514:2023

Ergonomics of human-system interaction - Part 514: Guidance for the application of anthropometric data in the ISO 9241-500 series (ISO/TR 9241-514:2020)

This document is intended to provide guidance in the use of anthropometric data within the ISO 9241-500 series.

Ergonomie de l'interaction homme-système - Partie 514: Recommandations pour l'application des données anthropométriques dans la série des ISO 9241-500 (ISO/TR 9241-514:2020)

Ergonomija medsebojnega vpliva človek-sistem - 514. del: Navodila za uporabo antropometričnih podatkov v seriji ISO 9241-500 (ISO/TR 9241-514:2020)

Namen tega dokumenta je zagotoviti navodila za uporabo antropometričnih podatkov v skupini standardov ISO 9241-500.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 10-Jan-2023
• ICS: 13.180 - Ergonomics
• Technical Committee: VSN - Safety of machinery
• Current Stage: 6060 - National Implementation/Publication (Adopted Project)
• Start Date: 02-Nov-2022
• Due Date: 07-Jan-2023
• Completion Date: 11-Jan-2023
• Ref Project: CEN ISO/TR 9241-514:2022 - Ergonomics of human-system interaction - Part 514: Guidance for the application of anthropometric data in the ISO 9241-500 series (ISO/TR 9241-514:2020)

Overview

CEN ISO/TR 9241-514:2022 (ISO/TR 9241-514:2020) is a technical report giving practical guidance for the use of anthropometric data within the ISO 9241-500 series on ergonomics of human–system interaction. It explains how to define the intended user population, select or weight anthropometric samples, and estimate design accommodation (the proportion of users whose body measurements are fit by a design). The document is intended for ergonomists, human factors engineers, product and workspace designers, and standards practitioners.

Key topics

• Scope and definitions: clear terms such as anthropometric accommodation, univariate and multivariate accommodation, percentile, user population, and weighting.
• Population sampling: how to define the intended user population and choose representative anthropometric samples; importance of sample size and demographic fit (extremes/tails matter for design decisions).
• Weighting: methods to statistically weight sample data when sample demographics differ from the target population-useful but limited when populations differ substantially (e.g., military vs. civilian).
• Univariate accommodation: using percentile values (e.g., 95th or 5th percentile) to estimate accommodation for single variables such as height or finger breadth. Example: using the greatest male 95th percentile for worldwide ceiling clearance.
• Multivariate accommodation: techniques for estimating simultaneous fit across multiple variables:
  • Virtual Fit Test (VFT): count individuals in a sample who meet all specified dimension constraints and convert to a percentage.
  • Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and boundary-case analysis to understand correlated body dimensions and identify extreme shapes.
  • Handling limited data and combining percentiles (including Z-score considerations) for concurrent accommodation estimates.
• Statistical nature: emphasizes that accommodation estimates are statistical inferences from samples and not absolute guarantees.

Applications

This guidance is practical for:

• Designing workstations, chairs, control panels, vehicle interiors, and public spaces (e.g., terminal ceilings).
• Specifying clearances and safety guards (e.g., grid openings sized by the 5th percentile finger breadth).
• Performing ergonomic risk assessments, accessibility design, and virtual fit simulations during product development.
• Informing standards writers and procurement specifications that reference anthropometric accommodation levels.

Who should use it

• Ergonomists, industrial designers, human factors engineers
• Furniture and equipment manufacturers
• Architects and workspace planners
• Standards developers and regulatory bodies

Related standards

• ISO 9241 series (human–system interaction)
• ISO/TR 7250-2 (anthropometric data examples cited)
• ISO 26800 (system concept of ergonomics)
• ANSI/HFES 100:2007 (related methodologies)
• BIFMA G1 Guideline (sample-size guidance for tails)

Using CEN ISO/TR 9241-514 helps ensure ergonomic decisions about dimensions and clearances are backed by appropriate anthropometric methods and statistically defensible accommodation estimates.

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-februar-2023
Ergonomija medsebojnega vpliva človek-sistem - 514. del: Navodila za uporabo
antropometričnih podatkov v seriji ISO 9241-500 (ISO/TR 9241-514:2020)
Ergonomics of human-system interaction - Part 514: Guidance for the application of
anthropometric data in the ISO 9241-500 series (ISO/TR 9241-514:2020)
Ergonomie de l'interaction homme-système - Partie 514: Recommandations pour
l'application des données anthropométriques dans la série des ISO 9241-500 (ISO/TR
9241-514:2020)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: CEN ISO/TR 9241-514:2022
ICS:
13.180 Ergonomija Ergonomics
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

CEN ISO/TR 9241-514
TECHNICAL REPORT
RAPPORT TECHNIQUE
October 2022
TECHNISCHER REPORT
ICS 13.180
English Version
Ergonomics of human-system interaction - Part 514:
Guidance for the application of anthropometric data in the
ISO 9241-500 series (ISO/TR 9241-514:2020)
Ergonomie de l'interaction homme-système - Partie
514: Recommandations pour l'application des données
anthropométriques dans la série des ISO 9241-500
(ISO/TR 9241-514:2020)
This Technical Report was approved by CEN on 23 October 2022. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee CEN/TC 122.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and
United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2022 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. CEN ISO/TR 9241-514:2022 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 3

European foreword
The text of ISO/TR 9241-514:2020 has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 159
"Ergonomics” of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and has been taken over as
which is held by DIN.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards body.
A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.
Endorsement notice
The text of ISO/TR 9241-514:2020 has been approved by CEN as CEN ISO/TR 9241-514:2022 without
any modification.
TECHNICAL ISO/TR
REPORT 9241-514
First edition
2020-08
Ergonomics of human-system
interaction —
Part 514:
Guidance for the application of
anthropometric data in the ISO 9241-
500 series
Reference number
ISO/TR 9241-514:2020(E)
©
ISO 2020
ISO/TR 9241-514:2020(E)
© ISO 2020
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting
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below or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
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Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Website: www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
ii © ISO 2020 – All rights reserved

ISO/TR 9241-514:2020(E)
Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Accommodation estimates are statistical inferences based on samples drawn from
the intended user population . 2
4.1 Population samples . 2
4.1.1 Samples . 2
4.1.2 Weighting . 2
4.2 Univariate accommodation estimates . 2
4.3 Multivariate accommodation estimates . 3
4.3.1 Virtual fit test (VFT) . 3
4.3.2 Principal component analysis (PCA) and boundary cases . 4
4.3.3 Dealing with limited data . 5
4.3.4 Estimating concurrent accommodation for two or more variables using
percentile values . 5
4.3.5 Estimating concurrent accommodation for two or more variables using
percentile values . 6
4.3.6 Z-score multipliers in addition and subtraction of percentile values . 6
Bibliography . 8
ISO/TR 9241-514:2020(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.
ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www .iso .org/ directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of
any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or
on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www .iso .org/ patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the
World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www .iso .org/
iso/ foreword .html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee 159, Ergonomics, Subcommittee SC 4, Ergonomics
of human-system interaction.
A list of all parts in the ISO 9241 series can be found on the ISO website.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www .iso .org/ members .html.
iv © ISO 2020 – All rights reserved

ISO/TR 9241-514:2020(E)
Introduction
The use of interactive systems takes place within a physical environment. The design of the physical
environment is decisive with regard to the outcome of the interaction between a variety of sizes of
users and the physical environment. As described in the system concept of ISO 26800, the physical
environment is embedded in an organizational and a social and cultural environment.
This document deals with the physical environment in which a physically diverse user group is assigned
to one or more workplaces, or spatial environments, to accomplish a task. The entirety of the spatial
environments assigned to a user is called environment of use. The relevant physical attributes of the
environment of use include issues such as air quality, thermal conditions, lighting, noise, spatial layout
and furniture. Specifically, this document discusses concepts for the spatial layout of workplaces so
that they match the physical anthropometric characteristics of the intended user population.
TECHNICAL REPORT ISO/TR 9241-514:2020(E)
Ergonomics of human-system interaction —
Part 514:
Guidance for the application of anthropometric data in the
ISO 9241-500 series
1 Scope
This document is intended to provide guidance in the use of anthropometric data within the
ISO 9241-500 series.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http:// www .electropedia .org/
3.1
anthropometric accommodation
percentage of individuals in the intended user population whose anthropometric measurement values
are concurrently within specified values for all anthropometric variables of interest pertinent to the
design of some object
3.2
multivariate accommodation
percentage of individuals in the intended user population whose anthropometric measurement values
are concurrently within specified values for multiple anthropometric variables
3.3
percentile
percentage of the measurement values that are less than the given value
3.4
user population
group of people having some common environment or activity
Note 1 to entry: These groups can be as diverse as geographically defined populations or specified age groups.
3.5
univariate accommodation
percentage of individuals in the intended user population whose anthropometric measurement values
are within specified values for a single anthropometric variable
ISO/TR 9241-514:2020(E)
3.6
weighting
assignment of a statistically determined multiplier to an individual’s anthropometric data in order to
reflect its relative importance in making the sample representative of the intended user population’s
anthropometry
4 Accommodation estimates are statistical inferences based on samples drawn
from the intended user population
4.1 Population samples
4.1.1 Samples
In order to estimate anthropometric accommodation, the intended user population needs to be defined.
For example, Japanese adult civilians between the ages of 18 and 70, or all Finnish children between the
age of 0 months and 24 months.
The sample should be large enough to be statistically representative of the intended user population.
Often, the extremes of the data, the largest or smallest measurements, are of great interest to designers.
The sample should be large enough that those individuals whose measurements are in the extremes are
well represented in terms of count, thus avoiding over-reliance on too few individuals in the extremes of
[4]
the measurement distribution. According to the BIFMA G1 Guideline (BIFMA 2013) , “typically 1 000
or more individuals are needed for each gender to ensure good precision in the tails of the distribution
where the design decisions are made”.
Similarly, the sample should accurately reflect the demographics of the intended user population.
For example, a sample of anthropometric measurements of military personnel are generally not
representative of the civilian population as they are based on younger individuals who are likely fitter
and leaner than the civilian population from which the military are drawn.
4.1.2 Weighting
In some cases, the sample of anthropometric data does not exactly match the demography of the
intended users. For example, military data often do not exactly match civilian data on variables such
as height, mass and age. A practical solution is to statistically weight individuals within the sample in
[7] [6]
proportion to their representation in the population of intended users . However, as Gordon has
emphasized, the technique of statistically weighting the sample data is useful in representing the target
population, but its utility does not extend to intended user populations that differ from the sample.
For example, there are sufficient differences in the range of height between the Korean and Dutch
populations that one cannot be weighted to represent the other.
4.2 Univariate accommodation estimates
The simplest accommodation estimates are those where only one variable, such as height, is involved.
In such cases, a percentile value gives a useful estimate of accommodation. For example, a designer
can want to design the ceiling of a room in an air terminal so that it provides a 20-cm clearance above
the heads of at least 95 % of all males from anywhere in the world. Then, a design height that is 20 cm
greater than the greatest 95th percentile value of males’ height in ISO/TR 7250-2 would reasonably be
expected to accommodate at least 95 % of all males worldwide. An even greater proportion of females
would be accommodated as men are generally taller than women.
NOTE The air terminal designer notes that the tallest males in the ISO/TR 7250-2 data set are from the
th
Netherlands, and that the 95 percentile value for their height is 195,9 cm. The designer adds 20 cm to the
95th percentile value and is reasonably confident that a ceiling height of 215,9 cm comfortably accommodates at
least 95 % of all male travellers.
2 © ISO 2020 – All rights reserved

ISO/TR 9241-514:2020(E)
A similar accommodation estimate can be made using a 5th percentile value. C
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