Introduction to Human Factors Chap 1

Three episodes ： ► An assembly-line worker ► Medicine bottle’ s print ► Voice response system

Introduction to Human Factors ► What Is the Field of Human Factors?   ► An Overview of the Book  

What Is the Field of Human Factors? (1/3) ► Ambiguous communications: a U.S. Navy cruiser in conflict-ridden Persian Gulf ► Goal of human factors  Enhances performance: productivity , error   Increases safety  Increases user satisfaction Human factors involves the study of factors and development of tools that facilitate the achievement of these goals

What Is the Field of Human Factors? (2/3) ► The cycle of human factors Figure 1.1 Figure 1.1 Figure 1.1  Identification of Problems  Analysis Tools: task analysis, statistical analysis, incident/accident analysis  DESIGN − Equipment design: physical equipment − Task design: what operators do − Environmental design: lighting, temperature, noise,… − Training: better preparing − Selection: individual differences

What Is the Field of Human Factors? (3/3) ► Fixing systems vs. Designing systems ► The Scope of Human Factors   ► The Study of Human Factors as a Science  

The Scope of Human Factors 1/2 ► Goal-oriented rather then content-oriented ► What human factors professionals do Figure 1.2 Figure 1.2 Figure 1.2 ► The relationship between human factors Figure 1.3 Figure 1.3 Figure 1.3  Core disciplines − Human factors, Ergonomics, Engineering psychology, Cognitive engineering  Subdomains of study within human factors  Related field of psychology and engineering  Domain-specific engineering disciplines

The Scope of Human Factors 2/2 ► The relationship between human factors Figure 1.3 Figure 1.3 Figure 1.3  Human factors vs. Engineering psychology − Ultimate Goal: Human factors: toward system design Engineering psychology: understand human mind as is relevant to the design of systems − Emphasis: Engineering psychology : discovering generalizable psychological principles and theories Human factors : usable design principles

The Study of Human Factors as a Science ► Generalization and prediction  (e.g.) Communications − Air traffic control center and the aircraft − Workers on a noisy factory floor − Doctors and nurses in an emergency room ► Nature of observation  Laboratory: highly controlled observations and experiments  Human behavior of real users of real systems  Most effective: from lab to real environment

An Overview of the Book ► Four basic sections  Different research techniques & design methodologies. (Ch.2, 3)  The nature of human information processing. (Ch.4-9)  The nonpsychological issues of human factors. (Ch.10-14)  Specific domains of application of human factors. (Ch.15-19)