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Definition:

What is in the field of study of HF?

Human Factors finds its roots in the following fields, where the first three have been the biggest influence: Computer Science, Cognitive Psychology, Ergonomics and Human Factors, Engineering and Industrial Design, Anthropology, Sociology, Philosophy, Artificial Intelligence. Within Computer Science, Human Factors usually falls into the category of User Interface Design. This is an appropriate name, since the field of HF is ultimately concerned with the user, enhancing the users' experience be it in productivity or understanding or capability.

What is the history of HF?

The field of Human Factors came about in aviation where it became evident that human safety was at issue when pilots became too challenged by the design of their cockpits. The field of human factors as its roots firmly planted in aviation. The first identifiable work in the area of equipment design and human performance was done during World War II (Preece, Jenny. A Guide to Usability: Human Factors in Computing, 14). This work was concerned primarily with eliminating certain accidents related to cockpit design and aircrew performance. In fact, much of the pioneering work related to equipment design, training, human performance under stress, vigilance, and other topics was conducted and published in the period following the war.

Prior to the war-related research, most people held a fairly simplistic view of how people interacted with their environment. The idea of humans as infinitely "flexible" seemed to guide most design. It soon became apparent, however, that human users' interaction with their jobs and equipment is much more complex than we thought. In addition to the size, shape, and placement of controls and displays, other, mostly psychological, elements were found to affect human performance.

The field of human factors was recognized in the United States in 1957, with the founding and first meeting of the Human Factors Society. In Europe, a parallel professional field, known there as Ergonomics, was developing during the same period. In England, the Ergonomics Research Society, now called The Ergonomics Society, was formed in 1949.[3] Human factors practitioners first concerned themselves with elements of human performance that included at least some psychological component. Ergonomics concentrated more on the biomechanical and biophysical aspects of work.

The original distinction between ergonomics (the word's Greek roots mean"the study of work") and human factors has gradually disappeared. The distinction was officially removed recently when the Human Factors Society changed its name to the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. In this Guide, the terms "human factors" and "ergonomics" are used interchangeably.

What is the present state of HF?

At present, Human Factors is a growing field, with new applications of Human Factors principles being developed in many fields. Many of the principles of Human Factors are comments on the factors listed below. For computer applications, for instance, Human Factors is considered part of the Design of Software, as opposed to an element of the Software Engineering cycle. Design is also the appropriate work for mechanical design with many Industrial Design companies being started to design instruments and the physical form of products that appeal to the end users.

What is the potential future of HF?

In the future, Human Factors is likely to have increased impact on the design of technologies. In particular, with increased computing power and the ability for novel user interfaces, Human Factors considerations are becoming even more important in Software Design. Human Factors recently started looking carefully at how to enhance instruments in health care. These and any other areas in which the end user is the main concern are the potential areas of applications of structured Human Factors design cycle. These are the areas in which it will play a part in the future.

What are some examples of HF?

    1.Impatience
   2.Limited memory
   3.Need analogies
   4.Limited concentration
   5.Changes in mood
   6.The need for motivation
   7.Prejudices
   8.Fears
   9.Make errors
10.Misjudgment
11.Prefer speech
12.Process information non-linearly
13.Near-sightedness
14.Color-blindness
15.Distraction
16.Can only perform a limited number of concurrent tasks
17.Short-term memory works differently than long-term memory
18.Users are all different
19.Think in terms of ideas composed of words, numbers, multimedia, and intuitions
20.Fatigue
21.Must see and hear to understand
22.Physical inability
23.Need information presented in sets of threes
24.Need complex information presented hierarchically
25.Confined to one physical location at a time
26.Require practice to become good at doing things
27.Embarrassment can act as a limitation to accomplishing some tasks
28.Tend to do things the easy way
29.Resistance to change
30.Can be physically harmed by some tasks
31.Prefer to learn by doing than by explanation
32.Have difficulty converting ideas into modes of communication
33.Have difficulty converting modes of communication into ideas
34.Act irrationally
35.Sometimes affected adversely by stimuli such as color and patterns
36.Become nervous
37.Miss details when tasks are memorized and performed cursorily
38.Can be affected by socio/political climate, which the designer has no control over
39.Prefer standard ways of doing things
40.Constrained by time
41.Incentive driven
42.Work better in groups than individually (1+1=3)
43.Require tasks to be modularized in order to work in groups
44.Use intuitions to construe information that is sometimes wrong
45.Rely on tools to complete tasks (like spell checking) thus causing dependency
46.Must delegate responsibility in order to free the mind of complexity
47.Become addicted
48.Associate unrelated things
49.Sometimes do not trust what is not understood
50.Death

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