Human Factors Introduction Flashcards
What is Human Factors?
The study, analysis and design of human technology systems to insure safe, efficient, effective and error free system performance
Why Study Human Factors?
To understand and predict system outputs, cannot ignore properties of one of the key system components – the people! Human Factors takes that into account.
What are the 5 goals of Human Factors?
Improve safety
Improve reliability
Improve job/user satisfaction/comfort
Improve production
Reduce errors
Enhance human capabilities
What are the 2 basic Principles of Human Factors?
1) Know the user
2) Recognize individual differences of users.
Who uses human factors?
A wide variety of domain areas: - computer software - health care - manufacturing - military - consumer goods - training - etc.
What are 4 common tasks/analysis that are involved in human factors practice?
1) Design of tasks/technology/workplaces, to fit or enhance the physiological and psychological requirements and limitations of humans
2) Analysis of humans and tasks to better understand human/task interaction
3) Commitment to the idea that things must be designed with the human user in mind
4) Recognition of Individual Differences
What factors affect human factors practices?
1) Technology changes over time
2) Training of HF professionals
3) Professional organizations
4) Government/Oversight organizations
5) Funding of research
6) HF/E industrial components/inputs
How many steps are there in the system engineering life cycle?
Six steps
What are the steps involved in the systems engineering life cycle?
1) Requirement Analysis
2) Specifications
3) Design
4) Implementation
5) Test
6) Maintenance
What at what point in the system engineering life cycle is human factors involved?
It is involved in every step.
What is the definition of a systems approach?
Systems thinking is the process of understanding how things, regarded as systems, influence one another within a whole. A sytstems approach, as it applies to human factors, is the study of how humans, work, and technology system interact with each other.
Why is a systems approach important?
Understand and measure aspects of human performance in a work or task oriented setting
What is the acronym for the systems approach model?
TOME
What does TOME stand for?
T - Task (what are people doing) O - Operator (Experience? Sensory Capabilities? Motor Capabilities? (Age, literacy, language) M - Machine (the technologies and work object used in the task; Button size, display, error recovery, issues of display design E - Environment (physical (light/heat), social (work organization; Lighting, placement of equipment, communication issues )
What is the Information Processing Model?
A model of how humans perceive, remember, process, and respond to the information in their environment
Describe the Model of Human Information Processing.
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