"In the 1950s, the Air Force designed cockpits for the average pilot by measuring thousands of pilots and calculating the average for ten key physical dimensions-height, arm length, torso size, etc. They assumed most pilots would be close to average in most dimensions. When researchers actually checked, they found that out of 4,063 pilots, exactly zero were average on all ten dimensions."
"Designing for the average driver creates a phantom user-a person who materializes inside their vehicle, drives, and dematerializes upon arrival. This ghost never walks across a street, never uses a bicycle or scooter, never uses a downtown circulator bus, and only makes long trips. The ghost is capable of seeing and hearing everything, is always alert and sober, doesn't experience chronic pain, doesn't need a cane or wheelchair, isn't young, and isn't old."
In the 1950s the Air Force measured thousands of pilots and averaged ten physical dimensions to design cockpits. No pilot out of 4,063 matched the average across all ten dimensions, and fewer than 5% matched even three dimensions. Designing to the average produced cockpits that fit virtually no one and impaired performance and safety. The remedy was adjustable components that accommodated the full range of human variation. Most American transportation systems repeat the same fallacy by treating the car as a prosthetic rather than a multimodal tool. Imagining an average driver yields a phantom user who never walks, bikes, uses transit, or experiences disability. Designing for ranges and multimodality improves usability and equity.
Read at Fast Company
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