Human Factors Explained
Human Factors (HF) applies psychological knowledge to design. When HF applied to a design process Human Factors becomes Human Factores Engineering (HFE). The discipline of HFE is to ensure that design is made compatible with the capabilities and limitations of how human beings function.
The goal of HFE is to design for safe, comfortable, and effective human use. Below is the formal defintion by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society:
Human factors (HF) is the study of how people use technology. It involves the interaction of human abilities, expectations, and limitations, with work environments and system design. The term "human factors engineering" (HFE) refers to the application of human factors principles to the design of devices and systems.
Human factors & ergonomics society
Although HFE applies to all instances of when people use technology it typically receives the most attention in safety critical industries like aviation, production, and healthcare.
The psychologies of human factors
- Behavioural psychology
- Cognitive and neuro psychology
- Cognitive linguistics and semiotics
- Developmental psychology
- Ergonomics
- Emotional psychology
- Educational & pedagogical psychology
- Experimental psychology
- Geronto (aging) psychology
- Personal and social psychology.
- Visual / perceptual psychology
- Organisational / Work psychology
While HFE is a multidisciplinary field, professionals with a psychology and cognitive science background are particularly well suited to work with HFE.
HFE supplements design processes such as user-centred design and design thinking with a foundation of scientifically grounded people knowledge.
That is an excellent supplement to the involvement of specific users during user research and design development (e.g., usability testing). For instance, user research should always start out with desk research to explore what existing knowledge is available to the particular design brief in question. Also, HFE expertise helps decode user insights relative to the more general psychological mechanisms at play. This creates a more robust decision basis for your value propositions resulting from the user research.
In design development, HFE also supports the specific user-centred design activities in different ways. A UX Expert Reviews is a great supplement to formal usability testing.