Chapter 7 - Applied human factors in design

Abstract

The role of the human factors engineers is to assist the design team to produce designs that better meet the capabilities, limitations and needs of the user. This means that the device fits the user's mental and physical constraints (capabilities), that there are limitations in place which prevent injury and that individual needs are considered to improve the device's usability and efficiency based on context. This chapter discusses the importance of considering human factors in the product design for both the physical product embodiment as well as any controlling user interface or complimentary computer applications. It includes sections on how to know your users and the use environment, as well as specific elements of human factors in design, including affordances, touch points, color, materials and finish, along with a case example. It also includes a section about software design or user experience design with detailed descriptions on design intent, constraints and graphic design, including aspects of detection and discrimination. It concludes with the design of alarms, including highlights from recent changes in the standards as a result of advanced research into the perception of alarms.