You'll Grow Into It...Then Outgrow It!

Anthropometrics

Source

I've mentioned in a past post about prospect and refuge that I shared a room with my two brothers as a child. When I eventually got my own room, I was provided a furniture set that I loved to much at the time to find fault in. Looking back at it now, I can say that the furniture in the set was too big for me at the beginning. If my parents considered anthropometrics when shopping for my bedroom suit, they would have gotten me more child sized furniture, which I realize does not make much sense financially considering they knew that I'd get bigger. I went through phases of size with this room. It started out with me not being able to reach the top shelf of my bookshelf or top drawer of my dresser and being swallowed by my bed. I eventually grew into everything, and those were good years. The older I got, the smaller the dresser and bed felt to me. Anthropometrics are the measurements of the human body in relation to products. If my anthropometrics were considered, things might have fit me a little bit better.

Everything Was Too Big

Sketch By Me

When I got my own room, I was the most excited little kid that I knew. I couldn't wait to move out of that room that I shared with my two brothers and have a space of my own. I worked and worked to get the room ready for my parents to get the furniture put in. When it was finally ready, it was time to wait. One day, I came home from school and my parents were cheesin' extremely hard. I knew something was up, so I ran to my room and open the door, and there it was, my over-sized furniture. I through my bag down and climbed up the side of the bed and sprawled out at the beset of my ability, but I only took up a sliver of the space. I then admired my nightstand that was kinda too small and my dresser that I couldn't see the top of. I loved every bit of my room, it just wasn't my size yet. My body measurements were not the right measurements to effectively use the space.

Everything Fit Just Right

As I aged, I got taller and my arms and legs got longer. The anthropometrics changed. I was the right size to reach my dresser and climb into my bed to appropriate way. Being able to actually use my furniture to their full extent made me love the room all over again. I noticed that things in that room were way more functional and easier to use when I was the right size. I felt more comfortable in that space. That's officially when my room became the one place that I wanted to be. I fit appropriately in the room and had plenty of room to complete any tasks that I needed to get done; I was a at a size where everything fit my just right.

Everything Got Smaller

Sadly, I kept growing. I got too big for my bed and my feet dangled off the end. I had to bend over in an uncomfortable way to get what I needed from the drawers of my dresser, so I began to resort to just using my closet for most of my clothes. I only experienced this for several years before I moved off to college. I still loved my room and miss it sometimes while I'm not home, but it became less functional for me because things were slightly too small for me. When I got to college and moved into my dorm room I found that the furniture was my size, just smaller. This worked for me and that's why my dorm rooms have become my temporary homes, because they were more functional than the room that I left at home.

Photo Taken By Me

Anthropometrics is the measurements that are used to determine the size that things need to be. Sometimes products aren't the right size for the end user and adjustments have to be made. This is the scenario that I found to represent my childhood. I loved my room with all my heart despite the frustrations of living in a dis functional room for part of my childhood.

GCSE Bitesize: Product specification. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/design/resistantmaterials/designanalysisevaluationrev3.shtml

Nussbaumer, L. L. (2018). Human factors in the built environment. New York, NY: Fairchild Books, An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing.