User Needs in Computerised Man Models

Models have long been used as part of the design process and they have advantages of cost and speed over other methods both for strategic and operational decision making. Greater computer availability and lower cost means that computer modelling is increasingly likely to be used by designers. Every model is an abstraction and the key to successful modelling appears to be to include in the model only those factors which are relevant to the decision to be made. On the other hand commonality of needs between problems means that some model attributes are useful for the solution of a range of problems. Is it possible to determine which attributes should be included in computerised anthropometric and biomechanical man models for, (i) designers of workstations wishing to use CAD methods, and (ii) ergonomists who wish to use a man model as a framework for ergonomic data collection.