The spatial dimensions of vehicle seats affect their ability to accommodate the physical requirements of the target user population. This paper presents a methodology for selecting the relevant design parameters, including the width, depth, and height of the pan as well as the height of the back. The paper also explores the effect of gender and racial composition of the user population on these parameters. The results obtained through univariate analysis are compared with those of multivariate analysis, demonstrating that applying univariate analysis to a multivariate problem leads to misleading results and poor estimates of accommodation. In contrast, multivariate analysis provides the opportunity for tradeoff studies as many parameter combinations can achieve the desired accommodation level. The methodology is demonstrated through several design scenarios for target user populations of different racial and gender distributions.
