Load cell design is at the heart of how high the platform of a floor scale is. In fact if a digital scale could do without a load cell the scale could be as thick as the platform of the scale. But load cells are at the heart of measuring weight digitally. And so for a floor scale to be slimmer the load cells it uses need to be slimmer.

A load cell can of course get slim but the challenge is to make it slim and yet at the same time have it strong enough to be able to withstand heavy loads. You can know from its name that the load cell is where the load is encountered and so that it can be measured. The load cell has a metal component that bends and the strain gauge is able to measure the amount of strain caused.

A very slim metal component may break instead of bending under heavy loads. However with ongoing material research materials are being identified which can withstand heavy loads while being quite slim. Of course the material also needs to have a good relationship profile between stress and strain which does not change much with temperature variation or with time. The stress strain profile is how much strain is caused for a given stress across the load range of stresses. When such a new material is found floor scales get lower.

                     ... a floor scale to be slimmer the load cells it uses need to be slimmer.