HUMAN FACTORS - USER INTERFACE DESIGN - USABILITY

Human Factors

Internet Links for Human Factors.

Efficacy of Human Factors

Human Factors has its origins in the Industrial Revolution and emerged as a full-fledged discipline during World War II. It was recognized that aircraft cockpit design needed to consider the human interface for controls and displays. Design Engineers were focused on the technology while Industrial Psychologists worked to optimize the interface. In some cases, Human Factors design can affect bottom-line profitability or can be a life and death matter, e.g., you don't want to push the wrong button or mistake meters for kilometers in a spacecraft. Companies came to realize that a products success is dependent upon good Human Factors design.

Human Factors is often used interchangeably with User Interface Design or Human-Computer Interface. There is a lot of overlap in these disciplines; however, Human Factors generally refers to hardware design while HCI generally refers to software design. Engineering Psychologist work in both disciplines and the overlap is considered greater than the difference.

Optimum Human Factors Design requires a systematic approach to the design process. But, to ensure optimum performance, Usability Testing is required. This empirical testing permits naïve users to provide data about what does work as anticipated and what does not work. Only after the resulting repairs are made can a product be deemed to have a user optimized design.

Today all large corporate and military manufacturers team design engineers with Engineering Psychologists to ensure optimum usability. Some of the prime industries relying on Human Factors for design consideration are: High Tech, aircraft, automobile, military, consumer products, and many other companies wanting an edge in the marketplace.

Human Factors Expert Services

Usernomics can assist your company with effective Human Factors design. We can help to make your product usable, effective, and accepted by end users. Your product's design will benefit from a systematic user-centered Human Factors approach culminating in expert empirical Usability Testing.

Our Engineering Psychologists and Human Factors experts design both hardware and software products. Their expertise covers a wide range of products including web-based and application software, consumer products, communication systems, and vehicles such as automobiles and aircraft.

Internet Links

As a service to our professional community, we are pleased to bring you a great starting place for locating information about Human Factors. The following Internet Links are for topics in:

• Human Factors
• Engineering Psychology
• Man-Machine Design
• Human-Centered Design

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• ADVISES is a European research project that investigates methods to combat the impact of human error during the design, operation and management of safety-critical, interactive systems. The project also facilitates dissemination of knowledge between the participating disciplines and groups.
• AirSafe.com is a Canadian site for Critical Information for the Traveling Public.
• Alertbox: contains Current Issues in User Interface Design by Jakob Nielsen at SunSoft.
• American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the home for aeronautical engineering.
• Aviation Medicine, Nursing, Physiology, Human factors, & Safety Links - has lots of international links to aviation Human Factors.
• Aviation Safety Network lists aircraft accidents from around the world.
• The Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) collects, analyzes, and responds to voluntarily submitted aviation safety incident reports in order to lessen the likelihood of aviation accidents.
• Aviation Week & Space Technology is a great magazine for topics in aviation including Human Factors design.
• Behavioral Dynamics in Operations Management (BDOM) is a site that focuses on the incorporation of behavioral theory and dynamics into common discussions of operations management.
• Boeing conducts a lot of research and applies Human Factors to aircraft design.
• Center for Human-Machine Interaction - CHMI is organized as a cross-disciplinary research network between some twenty scientists and PhD students at seven Danish sites with an engagement in the fundamental aspects of human-machine interaction and their implications for design.
• The Center for Human Modeling and Simulation at The University of Pennsylvania investigates computer graphics modeling and animation techniques for embodied agents, virtual humans, and their applications.
• The Center TRACON Automation System (CTAS) provides automation tools for planning and controlling arrival air traffic.
• Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making Technical Group (CEDM-TG) is part of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society specializing in cognition.
• Cognitive "&" Psychological Sciences is sponsored by Stanford University and contains just about all the references to cognitive and psychological sciences on the net. It includes academic programs, journals/magazines, newsgroups, mailing lists, announcements, and has links to everything.
• Computerized Anthropometric Research & Design Laboratory (CARD) designs equipment - be it in an aircraft, at a ground-based operator's console, or in a command and control center - that is easy for the war fighter to use.
• DISTAN is the UK Defense Standards with information and links to Human Factors.
• ErgoForms is a company that offers scalable human figures for CAD layouts and Human-factors books.
• The Ergonomics Society homepage for ergonomics in the UK.
• FAA Government Links are Human Factors Research Links to major government agencies involved in Human Factors.
• FMS Bluecoat Forum is an international e-mailing list on the subject of FMS, EFIS and EICAS displays, automated subsystems, flight mode annunciators, flight directors, autopilots, and the integration of all avionics equipment in the modern cockpit.
• Fatigue Resource Directory has a wide range of Internet links to research and papers pertaining to fatigue.
• Federal Aviation Administration - Research Development & Human Factors Laboratory is a state-of-the-art research facility designed specifically to support research in aviation human factors and is located at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
• Federal Aviation Administration - Interactive Human Factors will get you to the new interactive human factors pages at the FAA.
• Federal Aviation Administration - Research Development & Human Factors laboratory is a research facility designed specifically to support research in aviation human factors and is located at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
• FineArt Forum is a great place to see how electronic publishing and technology works in cyberspace. A good place for design ideas.
• Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) is an independent, nonprofit international organization that provides a neutral forum, where the aviation industry can meet in a noncompetitive environment to identify safety concerns, determine solutions and implement ideas and actions to improve safety.
• Flightdeck Automation Issues describes the study of the human factors issues of commercial transport aircraft flight deck automation.
• Good Documents or "human factors of online writing" is a web site that discusses how to create good business documents in the linked, on-screen environment of Intranets and the Internet.
• HCI Education Survey is sponsored by ACM SIGCHI. This is Gary Perlman's list of most of the University programs in HCI.
• The HCI Index is the Home Page sponsored by J. deGraaff at in The Netherlands. The index links to several sites in ergonomics and human-computer interface. There are several categories of information such as: Communication (a good one), bibliographies, conferences, publications, reviews, groups organizations, and other resources. You should check this one out.
• Human Factors and Ergonomics Society homepage.
• The Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance and Inspection (HFAMI) This site provides access to products of the Federal Aviation Administration Flight Standards Service Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance and Inspection Program.
• Human Factors in the International Certification of Transport Category Aircraft a paper from the ICAO on the need for Mutually Recognized Certification Standards in aviation.
• Human Factors search on Google. A great search engine for links to several laboratories, organizations, and home pages for human factors companies. Just type in Human Factors.
• Human Performance Laboratory (HPL) at University of Massachusetts, Amherst has a state-of-the-art driving simulator; a fully instrumented van used for on-the-road studies; a truck simulator with programmable image side view mirrors; and other equipment such as an advanced eye tracker is fully portable. This is a very informative site for driving research.
• Human Systems Integration Information Analysis Center (HSIIAC) - Formerly Crew System Ergonomics Information Analysis Center (CSERIAC). Provides Human Systems Integration (HSI) information and analysis services in support of research, design, development, test, and evaluation of human-operated systems.
• Immersion develops haptic technologies and contains haptic applications in several areas.
• Inside the Glass Cockpit (IEEE)is an article on the glass cockpit with links to other sites.
• Task-Centered User Interface Design is a practical introduction to interface design Written by Clayton Lewis and John Rieman at the University of Colorado.
• Interesting Human Factors Sites is a great list of links to many Human Factors sites.
• The International Journal of Man-Machine Studies has the complete journal on-line. A great reference source.
• Jakob Neilsen's "useit.com" has lots of links and includes his book on usable information technology.
• Knowledge Based Systems Group is David C. Wilkins site at the University of Illinois and contains information about HCI and Artificial Intelligence.
• MATRIS is the Technical Information site from the Department of Defense (DOD). They have a complete section on Human Systems.
• The McDonnell Douglas Human Modeling System (MDHMS) is a commercial site for the McDonnell Douglas Human Modeling System (MDHMS) group. Lots of 3D animations of human mannequins and links to additional topics.
• MIL-STD-1472D is the government standard for Human Factors Design.
• MIT2 Laboratories the purpose of the MIT2 Laboratories is to explore how human beings interact with the technology they create, especially in unusual or stressful circumstances which push individuals to their limits.
• NASA-Ames Human Factors Research and Technology Division (AVO) Research includes human information processing and perceptual-motor systems, human-automation interaction, information displays and management, fatigue countermeasures, crew resource management, and system safety.
• NASA-Cognition Lab conducts research which involves modeling the human operator in human-machine systems and experiments on normal human perceptual and cognitive processes.
• National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) - is the home for air traffic controllers.
• The National Aviation Safety Data Analysis Center provides the public with access to several of the principal aviation safety data and information sources the Federal Government uses for various purposes.
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is the U.S. Government's main site for highway safety standards and vehicle performance standards.
• The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent non-judicial investigation of transportation accidents contribute significantly to the safety of the traveling public and the environment.
• Navair consists of Crew Station Design and the integration of all components of human-machine systems.
• The NeuroMuscular Research Center (NMRC) is an independent unit of Boston University with the mission to explore the workings of the Central Nervous System (CNS) and to develop new technologies for assessing the performance the Neuromuscular System.
• Noldus Information Technology develops, markets and supports professional software and instrumentation for research on human or animal behavior.
• Ergonomics Center of North Carolina has the results of searching the WebCrawler and Galaxy for the key word "ergonomics". All sites are linked so it can save you a lot of time.
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) - Robotics and Process Systems Division focuses on Human Factors for Telerobots. Human factors personnel working as part of division robotics teams carry out three basic missions: designing work environments, human-telerobot interaction research, and mission analysis.
• Penn State Human Factors Lab is a large facility for the study of a variety of human factors topics.
• PsycInfo is the American Psychological Association search for Psychological Abstracts.
• Scientific Decision Support for National Security is the Los Alamos Labs site that is a national leader in scientific decision support for national security.
• The Society For Human Performance In Extreme Environments is an interdisciplinary forum for scientists, researchers, operational personnel, and other professionals with expertise in the area of human performance and behavior in all complex, high stress technological systems and environments.
• TIDE Center The Intelligent Transportation Systems Program - Princeton University has well categorized and varied links to all forms of transportation.
• Tips and Tools from "dotParagon" contain a wide range of HCI links and is a great place to learn what is available online.
• Transport Canada is a great set of transportation safety links.
• Transportation, ITS, and Older Driver Human Factors Resources is a great set of links to human factors in transportation.
• U.S. Coast Guard the Ship Design Division focuses on Human Factors Engineering and Organizational Behavior pertaining to shipping.
• University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) provides leadership in interdisciplinary transportation-related research.
• University of Toronto has a great Human Factors lab that includes cognitive work analysis, ecological interface design, human factors design, usability engineering, multimedia, and more. Good stuff.
• Usability First - does not emphasize ergonomics, but it does have a comprehensive set of links to collections of computer information, organizations, forums, journals, and projects. The emphasis is on European sites.
• The Worlds Project is focused on the development of a next-generation computer-supported collaborative work (CSCW).

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