1. Welcome to SYDE 142!!
11/09/2019
Catherine M. Burns

2. Course Introduction A “breadth” course in Human Systems engineering
Not depth
Pre-req for other courses in this area
11/09/2019
Catherine M. Burns

3. Texts Wickens 2nd edition - main text book, course material
Casey - real life case studies, short stories 5-10 pages, easy to read
You are responsible for all the material in these texts.
You may be tested in an open book format. Please do not make any notations in your text beyond highlighting.
11/09/2019
Catherine M. Burns

4. Lectures Provide interactive exercises to demonstrate the material
Provide high level summaries of the material
Are NOT at the detail level of your exams
Show areas of emphasis and focus
Supplement the readings
Encourage (hopefully) interest in the material.
11/09/2019
Catherine M. Burns

5. Assignments 2 Single Theme Assignments done in groups of 4
Practice assignments and solutions on the web – taken from old midterms and finals!
11/09/2019
Catherine M. Burns

6. Exams in this course Multiple choice (final only)
Short answer (midterm and final)
Case study analysis (midterm and final)
Performance level last year = 69% final average
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Catherine M. Burns

7. The Nature of Work
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Catherine M. Burns

8. Human Factors Today
In airport security, where would human factors be involved?
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Catherine M. Burns

9. Human Work People have worked for as long as they have existed
Originally work for survival (hunting, growing, etc.) work for self and family
Progression to craft
Craft: specialization of work by skill, work for others, work for trade or $
11/09/2019
Catherine M. Burns

10. From Craft to Industry Increased specialisation brings efficiency
Efficiency and skill comes through repetition (repetitive work)
specialization, and desire to make $, leads people to study work, search for greater efficiency
efficient work means $
11/09/2019
Catherine M. Burns

11. What are the possible downsides of very efficient work?
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Catherine M. Burns

12. The Disadvantages of Human Efficiency
People get bored
Humans viewed as “machines”
Repetitive strain injuries
People lose skills, don’t develop skills
Personnel are not widely employable, poor future job prospects
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Catherine M. Burns

13. The Industrial Revolution
mechanical expansion brought in a mechanised view of human work
human in interaction with "machine"
desire to improve human work the same way that technology could be improved
11/09/2019
Catherine M. Burns

14. Taylorism, Foundation of Ergonomics
Frederick Taylor - concept of human optimization, looking for the one best way
design for more efficient work
start of physical ergonomics
human based design
11/09/2019
Catherine M. Burns

15. The Impact of WWII
Development of aircraft that could pull more G’s than people could withstand
Development of radar that permitted faster flight in poorer weather conditions, at night
Fly by instrument
Technology that outpaced human abilities to use it (film Why Planes Crash)
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Catherine M. Burns

16. The Information Revolution
Information and data flow rates that outpace human psychological capabilities
Human become supervisors of automation/technology, asked to intervene only in highly unusual circumstances
Problem?
11/09/2019
Catherine M. Burns

17. People working with automated systems
End up with a very boring job (monitoring)
Until something really hard has to be done
Then they have to step in!
11/09/2019
Catherine M. Burns

18. The Automation Paradox
What kind of tasks do you want to automate?
Easy tasks
Tasks of medium complexity
Really hard tasks
All tasks
11/09/2019
Catherine M. Burns

19. Most people say... What kind of tasks do you want to automate?
Easy tasks
Tasks of medium complexity
Really hard tasks
All tasks
11/09/2019
Catherine M. Burns

20. Automation Development
If I had to code a solution for a problem, I’m best at coding for:
Easy tasks
Tasks of medium complexity
Really hard tasks
All tasks
11/09/2019
Catherine M. Burns

21. Most people say...
If I had to code a solution for a problem, I’m best at coding for:
Easy tasks
Tasks of medium complexity
Really hard tasks
All tasks
11/09/2019
Catherine M. Burns

22. Do you see the problem? Most automation is done for very simple tasks.
People can’t implement automation for very hard tasks, because they don’t know how to solve those kinds of problems.
11/09/2019
Catherine M. Burns