Field Of Human Factors Research Articles

Rapid Ethnography – The Study of Behavior, Communication, and Context in Cosmetic Surgery Consultations and the Design of a New Medical Device

Ethnographic research methods are increasingly popular within the general field of Human Factors, usability, user experience and design. Through a case story from the development and design of a medical device called 3D Surgery – a decision aid to be used in surgeon-patient consultations for cosmetic breast surgery – the presentation exemplifies the value and efficiency of the use of rapid ethnography used as stand-alone method and in combination with other methods. The case study describes an iterative approach encompassing continuous adjustment of method repertoire as well as continuous adjustment of use of analytical tools through which insights into the specific context of use are built. The case study further illustrates how the pre-surgery consultation and decision making process of the patient can be analyzed, and how the knowledge acquired can be transferred into design criteria for the 3D Surgery System.

GRP-081 Health Information Technology and Stressors: How to Measure and Eliminate Them

BackgroundThe daily tasks of hospital personnel are regularly interrupted. Unexpected breaks in work patterns act as supplementary cognitive burdens on health workers (hence the term stressors) and can lead to...

A Biomedical Informatics Perspective on Human Factors:

to select and summarize excellent research published during 2011 in the study of human factors in bio-medical informatics. we attempt to derive a synthetic overview of the activity and new trends in this field, from a wide selection of worldwide research papers published during 2011. We selected four papers. The first one presents an international effort aiming to design a guideline for good evaluation practice in health informatics (GEP-HI) [2]. The second reviews medical errors taxonomies from a human factor perspective [3]. The third one advocates the need to systematically perform a deep evaluation process after all healthcare information technologies project deployment [4]. The fourth one explores exit strategies performed by clinician using health record system and how/why we need to anticipate them [5]. This papers selection will provide our readers with valuable evidences on past and existing research in the specific field of human factors in healthcare informatics. It can also act as a foundation for stakeholders in the healthcare industry that emphasize the significance of human factors and ergonomics in designing healthcare information systems of the future.

Understanding ‘interpersonal trust’ from a human factors perspective: insights from situation awareness and the lens model

Trust has become a hot topic in the academic world in the past few decades. Authors from a variety of fields, especially human factors, have developed field-specific approaches to understanding trust. However, in the field of human factors, researchers usually take the approach of modelling how trust is formed between humans and automation. There is still a gap in the human factors literature with regard to frameworks for supporting the development of socio-technical systems where interpersonal trust is a desired design output. Through the combination of mainstream trust literature with human factors frameworks such as situation awareness and the lens model, we have developed a model that not only supports the understanding of interpersonal trust formation and the design of systems that foster the development of interpersonal trust, but also fills an existing gap in the trust modelling literature concerning the detailed description of the interpersonal trust state formation process.

Development and Assessment of Taxonomy for Performance-Shaping Factors for Railway Operations

Human performance is a significant contributor to railway incidents and accidents. The literature shows that train drivers, signalers, and controllers most affect network safety. Several studies have been conducted in the field of human factors and human performance in the railway domain to investigate operators' influence on the railway system. However, most studies are based on previous studies from other domains, which are not well suited and can be difficult to apply reliably to railway-specific operations. In light of the current limitations, this paper proposes a new approach referred to as the human performance railway operational index (HuPeROI). HuPeROI aims not only to estimate the human error probability for railway operations but also to propose mitigation strategies to minimize phenomena such as operators' degraded performance. HuPeROI is based on a performance-shaping factors taxonomy designed for the rail industry, referred to as the railway performance-shaping factor (R-PSF) taxonomy. The R-PSF taxonomy was developed on the basis of an extensive literature review of the field of human factors and subsequently validated against the findings derived from the analysis of 179 railway accident and incident reports, as well as targeted interviews with subject matter experts. This paper presents the taxonomy and the underlying theory, as well as the results of the validation process based on the analysis of 179 reports and the assessment of R-PSFs for four different scenarios based on a subject matter expert elicitation process. The R-PSF taxonomy and HuPeROI should enable researchers to address and deal with the effect of degraded performance of railway operators.

Measuring the functional and usable appeal of crossover B-Car interiors

Recently, the Crossover B-Car interior has become very popular and provides some appealing characteristics. We probe users' needs for the interior of a vehicle and propose a draft resolution for interior design, space utilization, and variations in functionality for Crossover B-Car developers. This study explores the appeal of Crossover B-Car interiors from the perspectives of usability and functionality. We interviewed 14 experts, using the evaluation grid method EGM for expert evaluation to determine the semantic structure of appeal for Crossover B-Car interiors. Hence, a hierarchical diagram of Crossover B-Car interior preferences was created to determine the critical factors. We then surveyed 1100 users through a questionnaire. According to the following statistical analysis, appeal factors were affected in varying degrees by particular reasons and characteristics. The results are useful for the designers and researchers of Crossover B-Car interiors and also contribute to studies in the field of human factors and ergonomics.

Ratings checklist for warnings: a prototype tool to aid experts in the adequacy evaluation of proposed or existing warnings

In the field of forensic human factors, experts are often called upon to assess and evaluate the adequacy of new or existing products' warnings or warnings systems. The usual goal of this evaluation is to arrive at a simple binary decision regarding the warning in question (i.e., does it "pass/fail", or is it "adequate/inadequate"). However, such a warning assessment process may in fact be quite complex and multidimensional in its execution. The existing warnings research literature has identified a fairly large number of warnings features or factors likely to have an impact on a given warning's effectiveness or adequacy. The tool addressed in this article is intended for use by a warnings expert (as opposed to one less knowledgeable and informed about complex warnings issues), and can serve as a reminder checklist to help ensure that the expert has taken into consideration the most relevant features or factors during such a warnings adequacy assessment.

Coding ATC incident data using HFACS: Inter-coder consensus

Reliability studies for coding contributing factors of incident reports in high hazard industries are rarely conducted and reported. Although the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) appears to have a larger number of such studies completed than most other systems doubt exists as the accuracy and comparability of results between studies due to aspects of methodology and reporting. This paper reports on a trial conducted on HFACS to determine its reliability in the context of military air traffic control (ATC). Two groups participated in the trial: one group comprised of specialists in the field of human factors and the other group comprised air traffic controllers. All participants were given standardised training via a self-paced workbook and then read 14 incident reports and coded the associated findings. The results show similarly low consensus for both groups of participants. Several reasons for the results are proposed associated with the HFACS model, the context within which incident reporting occurs in real organisations and the conduct of the studies.

Where’s the Emotion? How Sport Psychology Can Inform Research on Emotion in Human Factors

The aim of this study was to demonstrate how research on emotion in sport psychology might inform the field of human factors. Human factors historically has paid little attention to the role of emotion within the research on human-system relations. The theories, methods, and practices related to research on emotion within sport psychology might be informative for human factors because fundamentally, sport psychology and human factors are applied fields concerned with enhancing performance in complex, real-world domains. Reviews of three areas of theory and research on emotion in sport psychology are presented, and the relevancy of each area for human factors is proposed: (a) emotional preparation and regulation for performance, (b) an emotional trait explanation for risk taking in sport, and (c) the link between emotion and motor behavior. Finally, there are suggestions for how to continue cross-talk between human factors and sport psychology about research on emotion and related topics in the future. The relevance of theory and research on emotion in sport psychology for human factors is demonstrated. The human factors field and, in particular, research on human-system relations may benefit from a consideration of theory and research on emotion in sport psychology. Theories, methods, and practices from sport psychology might be applied usefully to human factors.

원자력발전소 위험도 평가를 위한 인간신뢰도분석

Objective: The aim of this paper is to introduce the activities and research trends of human reliability analysis including brief summary about contents and methods of the analysis. Background: Various approaches and methods have been suggested and used to assess human reliability in field of risk assessment of nuclear power plants. However, it has noticed that there is high uncertainty in human reliability analysis which results in a major bottleneck for risk-informed activities of nuclear power plants. Method: First and second generation methods of human reliability analysis are reviewed and a few representative methods are discussed from the risk assessment perspective. The strength and weakness of each method is also examined from the viewpoint of reliability analyst as a user. In addition, new research trends in this field are briefly summarized. Results: Human reliability analysis has become an important tool to support not only risk assessment but also system design of a centralized complex system. Conclusion: Human reliability analysis should be improved by active cooperation with researchers in field of human factors. Application: The trends of human reliability analysis explained in this paper will help researchers to find interest topics to which they could contribute.

Retracted] Coding ATC Incident Data Using HFACS: Intercoder Consensus

Reliability studies for coding contributing factors of incident reports in high hazard industries are rarely conducted and reported. Although the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) appears to have a larger number of such studies completed than most other systems doubt exists as the accuracy and comparability of results between studies due to aspects of methodology and reporting. This paper reports on a trial conducted on HFACS to determine its reliability in the context of military air traffic control (ATC). Two groups participated in the trial: one group comprised of specialists in the field of human factors, and the other group comprised air traffic controllers. All participants were given standardized training via a self‐paced workbook and then read 14 incident reports and coded the associated findings. The results show similarly low consensus for both groups of participants. Several reasons for the results are proposed associated with the HFACS model, the context within which incident reporting occurs in real organizations and the conduct of the studies.

An Investigation of the Prevalence of Replication Research in Human Factors

The present studies investigated the nature of replication research within the human factors literature. Many claim that researchers in certain fields do not replicate prior research. This is troubling because replications allow science to self-correct. A successful replication corroborates the original finding, whereas an unsuccessful replication falsifies it. To date, no one has assessed whether this issue affects the field of human factors. In the first study, eight articles (parent articles) were selected from the 1991 issues of the journal Human Factors. Each article that had referenced one of the eight parent articles between 1991 and September 2006 (child articles) were also retrieved. Two investigators coded and compared each child article against its 1991 parent article to determine whether the child article replicated its parent article. The second study replicated these procedures. Half or more of the parent articles in Study I and Study 2 (75% and 50%, respectively) were replicated at least once. Furthermore, human factors researchers conducted replications of their own work as well as the work of others. However, many researchers did not state that they replicated previous research. Replications seem to be common in the human factors literature. However, readers may not realize that a study replicated prior research. Thus, they may incorrectly assess the evidence concerning a given finding. Human factors professionals should be taught how to identify replications and to be cautious of research that has not been replicated.

A Portfolio of Human Factors Guidance for NextGen

This discussion panel will focus on guidance that the field of human factors can provide in the development of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) in the United States, ranging from input regarding the overall operational concept for NextGen to approaches for crafting the details of specific designs. The discussion will include consideration of how the feasibility of alternative implementations should inform the operational concept. To provide the necessary perspectives, the expertise represented on this panel provides both breadth and depth regarding the contributions that the field of human factors needs to provide to the development of NextGen in the United States. This expertise extends across a number of functional roles in the aviation system (piloting, air traffic control, air traffic flow management, airport surface management and flight dispatching). It also spans a wide range of human factors issues including considerations of trust, cognitive complexity, information overload, interruption management, human reliability, automation reliability, timesharing, mental workload, shared situation awareness and the design of distributed work systems. Finally, this expertise encompasses experience with human factors program management, system design and evaluation (including both empirical testing and the use of computational models). Panelists will be posed with variations on the question of “what are concrete ways in which the field of human factors can guide the development of an effective Next Generation Air Transportation System?” based on the system perspectives that they represent.

Facilitating University-Industry Collaborations in Human Factors and Ergonomics

There are many benefits of university-industry collaborations in the field of human factors and ergonomics. Such collaborations can yield high-quality scientifically based solutions to industry challenges and provide unique opportunities for students to work on complex and interesting problems. However, there are also challenges that can impede the success of these collaborations such as mismatched expectations, unclear communications, and bureaucracies on both sides. For this discussion panel we have two university researchers and three industry members. We will discuss benefits and challenges of university-industry collaborations, share experiences from how we have been able to maximize the benefits and minimize the challenges, and have an interactive discussion with the audience regarding how best to facilitate successful university-industry collaborations.

Development of a Research Agenda at the Intersection of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Health Care: Implications for Human Factors and Ergonomics

In September, 2009, AHRQ and NSF convened a workshop in which experts in the fields of industrial and systems engineering (ISyE) and health care explored critical areas of research at the intersection of both fields. The objectives were to 1) articulate a vision for an ideal health care delivery system, 2) determine why current efforts to apply ISyE knowledge to health care have not resulted in meaningful change, and 3) propose a research and action agenda that should be pursued to enable the field of ISyE to substantially contribute to the realization of an ideal health care delivery system. This paper presents the vision of the ideal health care delivery system and elements of the research agenda that are salient to the field of human factors and ergonomics (HFE). The ideal health care delivery system was defined as one that is new, patient-centered, and engineered. The research agenda emphasized knowledge innovation related to systems monitoring, modeling, and modification, but also included items related to transfer of existing ISyE knowledge and integration and prioritization of knowledge in both fields. Recognizing that human factors and ergonomics is much larger than ISyE, this paper is also presented to the HFES community to identify which other perspectives may need to be included.

A New Approach to Laboratory-Based Learning in an Introductory Ergonomics Course

Laboratory-based learning plays an important role in the introductory Ergonomics course at the University of Oklahoma. Qualitative analyses of technical reports over several semesters revealed repeated problems. Students were unfamiliar with academic publications, did not know how to report results, and had difficulty interpreting results. In addition to these problems, other difficulties arose. Students felt overwhelmed. Some developed a dislike for the field of human factors. Several cited the labs as the source of their dissatisfaction. To address these problems, we adopted a new approach to conducting the laboratory portion of the course. We sought to increase student engagement, support learning through scaffolding, increase the rate and quantity of feedback, and provide team-development opportunities. Students' performance in data analysis and technical writing improved over the previous year and throughout the semester. Satisfaction with the course as a whole and the laboratory section in particular improved. We are pleased with the results and plan to continue refining the course design. We hope that this article will inspire discussion of effective techniques in ergonomics laboratory instruction.

A Bio-medical Informatics Perspective on Human Factors

To select and summarize excellent research papers published in 2009 in the field of human factors in bio-medical informatics. We attempt to derive a synthetic overview of the activity and new trends in this field, from a selection of research papers published in 2009. It is possible to identify commonalities in this diverse domain: healthcare information technologies (HIT) adoption still occupies a central role in the field with research focused mainly on measuring impact and influence of this adoption. The HIT community is giving birth to interdisciplinary research and clear methods to optimize implementation and subsequent achievement of managerial objectives. It also tries to synthesize the major findings in workshops, meetings and networks. The best paper selection of articles on human factors shows examples of excellent research on methods concerning original options to assess the importance of healthcare personnel psycho-sociology when confronted to the adoption of new tools and process which still does not prevent failures but will help learning from them.

The Role of Human Factors in Telehealth

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the field of human factors (HFs) and its role in telehealth. We discuss HF concepts and methodologies that affect the design, implementation, and evaluation of telehealth applications and provide examples from numerous application areas that highlight the significance of HF principles and methodologies. We also provide recommendations for inclusion of HFs in telehealth system design and evaluation, and discuss resulting implications for system designers, practitioners, vendors, and policy makers.

Assessing the Human Factors of a Human Engineering Standard

For many years, the Department of Defense (DOD) Design Criteria Standard: Human Engineering (MIL-STD-1472F) was the premier standard in the field of Human Factors; however, over the past 20 years Human Factors knowledge has advanced more rapidly than the standard. Not only is the standard technologically out of date, but it lacks basic usability features. This paper describes the survey undertaken to kick-off the first major update to this standard in many years. 58 typical users of the standard were surveyed on a variety of topics including format, data, technology, and user needs. Results indicate several areas for improvement such as including more references and adding recent technological innovations. Additionally, while a majority of the participants expressed a preference for an electronic version of the standard, many users still wished to maintain a hard-copy version. The results of this survey will be used to drive a major revision to MIL-STD-1472.

Is Human Reliability Relevant to Human Factors?

This paper presents a number of views from a panel discussion on the relationship between human reliability analysis (HRA) and human factors. HRA emerged concurrently with the field of human factors and now features a nearly fifty-year shared history. While built on human factors, HRA distinguished itself early on from human factors due to its emphasis on predicting human performance. While one of the major focus areas of human factors has been improving the design of novel systems to optimize human performance, HRA has largely focused on predicting human performance for as-built systems. Over time, as HRA became closely tied particularly to the nuclear energy industry, it increasingly became a field associated more with reliability engineering than human factors. Yet, the similarity to human factors has not abated, nor has the opportunity for the two fields to cooperate. Human factors research provides the empirical basis to support predicting human performance in HRA. Importantly, HRA continues to benefit human factors by providing: (1) a framework for modeling human performance, (2) an example of how a human factors discipline can be seamlessly integrated with an engineering field, and (3) insights on how predictive modeling may be used as a system design tool.