Revision Slides Human Factors and Systems Design

SST102 – Intro to Human Factors and Systems
STUDY UNIT 1
Chapter 1
Introduction to
Human Factors and
Systems Approach
SST102 – Intro to Human Factors and Systems
5 Approaches to Human Factors

• Equipment Design
• Task Design
• Environmental Design
• Training
• Selection
SST102 – Design and Evaluation Methods
STUDY UNIT 1
Chapter 2
Design and Evaluation

Methods
Cost/Benefit Analysis
• HF experts usually not brought in until after a product

is designed--the “knobs and dials” issue.
• Should be part of the design team.
• Cost-benefit analysis (justify to management)
– usually reveals the value of HF in design
– saves money in the long run.
• Human Factors specialists often must settle for
workable solutions that aren’t always the best ones.
– Limited Time and/or Resources.
– Constraints on what can be done.
– The HF Specialist is frequently the one to be called in after
there’s a problem.
User Centered Design: Know Thy User

The Goal: To create a system that supports users’ needs
rather than making a system that forces users to adapt
Characteristics of User-Centered Design

– Early focus on user and tasks
– Empirical measurement
– Iterative design using prototypes
– Participatory design that involves the user as part of the design team
HF in the Product Design Life Cycle

• Stage 1: Front-end Analysis (FEA)
The Goal: to provide input for system specifications via (a) user analysis, (b) functional analysis,
(c) task analysis, (d) environmental analysis, and (e) user preferences and requirements.
• Stage 2: Iterative Design and Testing (interface design, develop

prototype, design review, cost-benefit analysis for alternative designs, workload analysis, usability
testing).
• Stage 3: System Production

• Stage 4: Implementation and Evaluation (evaluate fielded system)
• Stage 5: System Operation and Maintenance
• Stage 6: System Disposal
Front End Analysis (FEA)
Manufacturers should answer the following questions before

designing products or equipment.
1. Who are the product/system users?

2. What are the major functions to be performed by the
system? What tasks must be performed?
3. What are the environmental conditions under which the
product/system will be used?
4. What are the user’s preferences or requirements for the
product?
5. Are there any existing constraints with respect to design of
the system?
6. What are the human factors criteria for design solutions?
Iterative Design and Testing
Key Activities
– Using information obtained from front-end analysis to
develop initial system specifications
• QFD, Tradeoff Analysis, Human Factors Criteria Specification,
Functional Allocation, Support Materials Development
– Creating initial system prototypes
– Conducting usability testing
– Carrying out multiple interactions of evaluation and re-design
Usability Testing
(involves users)
• The degree to which the system is easy to use or
“user friendly.”
• Important indices of usability:
– Learnability - system should be easy to learn.
– Efficiency - high level of productivity is possible.
– Memorability - easy to remember so that casual users
can successfully operate the system after a period of
inactivity.
– Errors - should have low error rate and errors should be
easy to recover from.
– Satisfaction - system should be pleasant to use.
SST102 – Visual Sensory Systems
STUDY UNIT 2
Chapter 1
Visual Sensory Systems

Rods and Cones:

Their Location in the Retina
The fovea is where visual acuity and color
vision are the best because of a high
concentration of cones. The fovea is
located directly opposite the eye’s lens
system for optimum focusing.
Rods & Cones

Properties
1) Location - Fovea 2º visual angle (only cones)
- Periphery (rods)
2) Acuity - Fine detail resolved on closely spaced cones

- Drops rapidly towards periphery
(but not motion sensitivity)
3) Sensitivity - Greater for rods (try looking directly at a star at night)

- Photopic vs scotopic vision
Rods & Cones

Properties
1) Color Sensitivity - Rods are color-blind
- affects daytime periphery and night vision
2) Adaptation - Rods lose sensitivity with light stimulation

- Half hour for dark adaptation
3) Differential Wavelength Sensitivity

- Rods particularly insensitive to long wavelengths (red)
- Red object appears black at night
- Red light does not destroy rods dark adaptation
Reading print
• Fine print and narrow stroke widths not good choices.
• 9/11 point font (reading distance), 12-14 for VDT
• Maximize contrast: Employ black on white rather than

less readable combinations (e.g., gray on white).
– Dark text on light backgrounds—negative contrast (usually better)
– Light text on dark backgrounds—positive contrast
• Irradiation—disruptive tendency for white letters to spread out over a black
background
• Font Choice
– Use familiar fonts rather than non-standardized shapes
• sans serif usually best
– Use lowercase or mixed case lettering for sentences and uppercase for labels
Reading print
UPPERCASE PRINT IS MORE DIFFICULT TO READ IF

ALL SENTENCES ARE TO BE WRITTEN THIS WAY
vs
Lowercase print is more easier to read if all sentences

are to be written this way
Bottom-Up vs Top-Down Processing

Top-Down
Perception
Experience Processing
Top-down Processing
Expectations: Knowledge
(Expectancies
“After the procedure is completed, and Desires)
turn the system on.”
Perception
Bottom-up Processing
Sensation
Lower levels of stimulus The Senses
Quality of sensory information

Stimulus Bottom-Up
Processing
Depth Perception: Bottom-up

Observer centered cues:
Physiological depth perception
– Accommodation
• focusing images through changes in shape
of the lens
– Binocular convergence
• inward rotation of eyes
– Binocular disparity
• stereopsis; disparate view from each
eyeball
– Bottom-Up 3-D cues are usually effective

for judging distance for objects within a
few meters from the viewer.
Depth Perception: Top-Down

Object centered cues:
Psychological depth perception
• Linear Perspective
– Converging of parallel lines toward more distant points
• Relative Size
– If 2 objects are the same size, the object that occupies the smaller visual angle is farther away
• Interposition
– Nearer objects tend to obscure contours of objects that are farther away
• Light & Shading
– 3D objects tend to cast shadows and reveal shadows & reflections on themselves from illuminating
light
• Textural Gradients
– Textured surfaces, viewed at an angle, will show gradient or change in texture density across visual
field
• Relative Motion (Motion Parallax)
– More distant objects will show relatively smaller movement across the visual field as the observer
moves
Visual Search
– Pursuit Movements
• Constant velocity; tracking moving
targets
– Saccadic Movements
• Abrupt, discrete movements
from one location to the next
• Characterized by:
– Movement time (50msec),
– Dwell or fixations (3-4 per second)
– Useful Field of View (how large around
the center of fixation, is available for
info extraction)
SST102
PSYC 2220 – Tactile,
– Auditory, HUMANand Vestibular
FACTORS IN System
DESIGN
STUDY UNIT 2
Chapter 2
Auditory, Tactile, and

Vestibular System
auditory, tactile and vestibular system 20 of 62

SST102
FACTORS IN System
DESIGN
Use Auditory or Visual?

Auditory if: Visual if:
Message is simple and short Message is complex and long
Message will not be referred to later Message will be referred to later
Message needs immediate action Message doesn’t need immediate action
Visual system is overburdened Auditory system is overburdened
Location is too bright or dark Location is too noisy

adaptation required
Job requires moving about Job allows staying in one location

SST102
FACTORS IN System
DESIGN
Motion Sickness
Normally, visual and vestibular senses convey compatible
and redundant information.
Visual and vestibular
channels may become
decoupled so that one
channel tells the brain one
thing and the other tells it
something else.

SST102
PSYC 2220 – HUMAN FACTORS IN DESIGN
– Cognition
STUDY UNIT 2
Chapter 3
Cognition

SST102
– Cognition
MODEL OF HUMAN INFORMATION PROCESSING

1. Perception of
information about
the environment
2. Transformation of
that information
3. Responding to
that information

SST102
– Cognition
SELECTIVE ATTENTION
Selective attention focuses on some information
and not on other information – necessary for perception
Selection of what to attend to is driven by four factors:
1) Salience
- bottom-up process
- attentional capture vs attentional blindness
2) Expectancy
- Top-down process
- Where would you look at to find the information?

SST102
– Cognition
SELECTIVE ATTENTION
3) Value
- Top-down process
- How long do we attend to a signal?
- How valuable is it to look at somewhere for info?
4) Effort
- We scan short rather than longer distances for info
Can there be perception without attention???

SST102
– Cognition
WORKING MEMORY
• Sometimes termed Short-Term Memory

• Relatively transient and limited in size
• Temporary store that keeps info active while
we are using it or until we use
• Holds 2 different types of information
– Verbal & Spatial

SST102
– Cognition
Capacity
• 7 +/- 2 chunks of information (Miller’s magic

number)
• A chunk is a unit (1 bit of info) of working

memory space defined by properties that bind
items together (remember unitization?)
– 3 8 1 4 or X F D U = 4 chunks
– 17 21 34 40 = 4 chunks
– 2001 or DOOR = 1 chunk

SST102
– Cognition
Capacity
• Extent to which units are “chunked” depends

on degree of user familiarity with groupings
• Chunking decreases the number of items in

working memory and therefore increases the
capacity of working memory storage

SST102
– Cognition
Capacity
• Chunks not just memory units but can form

perceptual chunks with spatial separation
between (e.g. credit card numbers)
• Combine physical and cognitive chunking:
M R T P I E H D B C T E
MRT PIE HDB CTE

SST102
– Cognition
HF IMPLICATIONS OF WM LIMITS
• Minimize working memory load
– Both time and items to be retained in WM during task performance should be kept to
a minimum
• Provide visual echoes of auditory information that can be rescanned later if

necessary
• Exploit chunking
• Physical chunk size: optimal arbitrary string is 3-4 items per chunk
• Use meaningful sequence: 555, 4321, or JFK
• Superiority of letters over numbers: letters induce better chunking (more
meaningful),
1-800-663-5900 vs 1-800-GET-HELP
(fewer chunks and more associative meaning)
• Keep numbers separate from letters: better kept in WM
SDK 5360 K
SST102
– Cognition
LONG-TERM MEMORY
• A mechanism for storing information for later

retrieval
• Unlimited capacity and unlimited duration
• Information is moved from WM to LTM by
association and item strength
• Remembering is enhanced by frequent
rehearsal in working memory and in
conjunction with other information related in a
meaningful way.
• Forgetting is a failure of memory retrieval

SST102
– Cognition
LONG-TERM MEMORY
• Forgetting
– Major reasons for memory retrieval failure:
• Weak strength due to low frequency or recency
• Weak or few associations with other information
• Interfering associations (new trainees)
• Recall memory retrieval degrades faster than
Recognition
- Recognition triggers an association
- Multiple-choice test
- WIMP interfaces

SST102
– Cognition
LTM IMPLICATIONS FOR DESIGN

• Use Memory Aids
- Particularly important for infrequent or safety-critical tasks
- Place “knowledge in the world” so that people don’t have to rely on
“knowledge in the head” - Don Norman
• Carefully design to-be-remembered information

- Be meaningful to individual and semantically associated with other info
- Concrete rather than abstract words
- Distinctive concepts and information (to reduce interference)
- An item should be able to be guessed based on other info (top-down
processing)
- Little technical jargon
• Design to support development of correct mental models

- Apply the concept of ‘visibility’ – Don Norman
a u d i t o-r Switches
y , t a c t i l ewith
a n ddifferent
v e s t i b upositions
l a r s y s t evs
m toggle switches. Display feedback.
34 of 62
SST102
PSYC 2220 – Making
– Decision HUMAN FACTORS IN DESIGN
STUDY UNIT 2
Chapter 4
Decision Making

SST102
Decision-Making Models
– Normative (or rational) Decision Models

• Revolve around the concept of utility, or the overall
value of a choice to the decision-maker.
• Specify what people ideally should do.
• Do not describe how people actually perform
decision making tasks
– Descriptive Decision Models

• Attempt to describe and model actual human
decision-making.

SST102
Descriptive Decision Models
• Developed because human decision-making

frequently violates key assumptions of
normative models.
• Descriptive models attempt to capture how

humans actually make decisions.
– People tend to rely on simpler and less-
complete means of selecting among choices
– They rely on ‘heuristics’

SST102
Heuristics and Biases
• Shortcuts or Rules-of-Thumbs (easy ways of

making decisions
• Very powerful and efficient, but don’t guarantee

the best solution
• Because they are simplifications, heuristics

occasionally lead to systematic flaws and errors
(deviations from normative model called Biases
38

SST102
Receiving and Using Cues
1. Attention to a limited number of cues

- Limited by constraints on working memory
2. Cue primacy and anchoring
- First impressions last
3. Inattention to later cues
- Cues occurring later in time or ones that change over time are ignored;
attributable to attentional factors
4. Cue salience
- Loudest, brightest, top row cues are more likely to attract attention and are given
more weight. The most salient cues aren’t always the most diagnostic ones
5. Overweighting of unreliable cues
- Due to treating all cues as equally reliable
SST102
Hypothesis Generation, Evaluation and Selection
After a set of cues are processed in WM, decision-makers generate
hypotheses by retrieving one or more from LTM:
1. Generation of a limited number of hypotheses

– People generate only a small subset of hypotheses (1-4) due to WM
constraints and never consider all relevant ones
2. Availability heuristic
– People more easily retrieve hypotheses that have been considered
recently or frequently
3. Representativeness heuristic
– Diagnose a situation because the pattern of cues ‘look like’ a typical
example of this situation
4. Overconfidence
– People believe that they are more correct in the hypotheses brought into
WM than they actually are; less likely to seek out evidence for alternative
hypotheses
SST102
Action Selection
1. Retrieve only a small number of actions
– Limited number of action plans can actually be retrieved and kept in
WM
2. Availability heuristic for actions
– People retrieve most “available” actions from LTM
– Availability of items in LTM are a function of recency, frequency, and
how strongly they are associated with hypothesis
3. Availability of possible outcomes
– Construction worker may not wear hardhat since no accidents
– Evident when people make decisions and fail to foresee outcomes that
are readily apparent in hindsight
4. Framing bias
– Decision or judgment affected by the way the situation is presented
SST102
Effects of Framing
How a problem or situation is “framed” can affect the outcome of
choice problems in a way that violates assumptions of rational choice
theory
• Framed as a gain vs Framed as a loss
a) If asked to choose between a certain loss of $50 or having a 50%

chance of losing $100, which would you choose?
b) If asked to choose between a certain gain of $50 or having a 50%

chance of making $100, which would you choose?

SST102
– Displays
STUDY UNIT 3
Chapter 1
Displays

SST102
– Displays
13 Principles of Display Design

1. Perceptual Principles (x 5)
2. Mental Model Principles (x 2)
3. Principles Based on Attention (x 3)
4. Memory Principles (x 3)

SST102
– Displays
Perceptual Principles
1. Make displays legible (or audible)
- Contrast, visual angle, illumination, viewing distance, noise, masking
2. Avoid absolute judgment limits

- Do not require judging of level from more than 5 levels of single
sensory variable
3. Top-down processing
- We perceive and interpret based on expectations (past experience)
A should be on
Checklist: B should be on
C should be on
D should be off
SST102
– Displays
Mental Model Principles

6. Principle of pictorial realism
- A display should look like or resemble the variable that it represents
7. Principle of the moving part

- The moving element should move in a spatial pattern and direction
compatible to how the represented actually element moves

SST102
– Displays
Principles Based on Attention

8. Minimizing information access cost
- There is time and effort to move selective attention from one display
location to another to access information
- Minimize this by keeping frequently accessed sources of information
close

SST102
– Displays
Principles Based on Attention

9. Proximity compatibility principle
- Two or more sources of information related to the same task must be
mentally integrated (graph and legend)
- Mental proximity (line, colour, pattern)
vs 7.2
Display proximity (info access cost)
- Divided attention vs focused attention
7.2
10. Principle of multiple resources

- Processing of displayed information should be facilitated by dividing
information across resources (visual and auditory concurrently)
SST102
– Displays
Memory Principles
11. Replace memory with visual information: Knowledge in the
world
- Place information of ‘what to do’ in the world
- Don’t require to retain in WM or retrieve from LTM
- E.g. Caller ID, checklist, etc
12. Principle of predictive aiding

- Cut down cognitive task and WM load
- Becomes a simpler perceptual task

SST102
– Displays
Memory Principles
13. Principle of consistency
- Standardize and make consistent with other displays encountered

SST102
– Displays
Alerting Displays
In terms of severity of consequences
- Warnings (most critical)
: Should be signaled by salient auditory alerts
- Cautions
: Can have less salient auditory alerts
- Advisories ! WARNING
: Can be purely visual
! CAUTION
NOTICE
SST102
– Displays
c) Analog Form and Direction

: The orientation of display scale should be in a form and
direction congruent with the operator’s mental model of
the displayed quantity
: Dynamic displays should move in a direction consistent
with user’s expectations
Fixed Scale- Moving Scale-

Moving Pointer Fixed Pointer
SST102
– Control
STUDY UNIT 3
Chapter 2
Control

SST102
– Control
Principles of Response Selection

The difficulty and speed of selecting a response or action
is affected by five variables factors critical for system
design:
1) Decision Complexity
2) Response Expectancy
3) Compatibility
4) Speed-Accuracy Tradeoff
5) Feedback

SST102
– Control
Decision Complexity (Hick-Hyman Law of RT)
- The speed with which an action can be selected is

influenced by the number of possible alternative actions
that could be selected (complexity of the decision)
- User can select more rapidly

from menu with two items
than from menu with eight
Reaction
Time
- Smaller number of complex

decisions made faster than large
number of simple decisions
auditory, tactile and vestibular system No. of stimulus-response alternatives
55 of 62
SST102
– Control
Response Expectancy
Information Expectations:
We perceive information that we expect more rapidly than
information we do not expect
Response Expectations:
We select actions we expect to carry out more rapidly and
accurately than actions that surprise us
E.g. When driving in traffic, we are slower in applying the

brakes in response to a car that unexpectedly stops in front
of us than in response to an expected traffic signal

SST102
PSYC 2220 – HUMAN
– Anthropometry & Workspace
FACTORS Design
IN DESIGN
STUDY UNIT 4
Chapter 1
Engineering Anthropometry &

Workspace Design

SST102
PSYC 2220 – HUMAN
FACTORS Design
IN DESIGN
Statistical Analysis: Percentiles

• A percentile value of an anthropometric dimension
represents the percentage of the population with a
body dimension of a certain size or smaller.
• Percentiles help to estimate the percentage of the
user population that will be accommodated by a
specific design.
– A seat surface designed using the 50th percentile value of the hip
breadth of U.S. males, then we can estimate that about 50% of
U.S. males (the ones with narrower hips) will have their hips fully
supported by the seat, whereas the other 50% (those with wider
hips) cannot.
• In a normal distribution, the 50th percentile value is

equivalent to the mean of the distribution.

SST102
PSYC 2220 – HUMAN
FACTORS Design
IN DESIGN

SST102
PSYC 2220 – HUMAN
FACTORS Design
IN DESIGN
Use of Anthropometric Data in Design

1. Determine the user population.
• Who will use the product or workplace?
2. Determine the relevant body dimensions.

• Which body dimensions are most important for the design
problem?
3. Determine the percentage of the population to be

accommodated.
• Design for extremes
• Design for adjustable range
• Design for the average
SST102
PSYC 2220 – HUMAN
FACTORS Design
IN DESIGN
Use of Anthropometric Data in Design

4. Determine the percentile value of the selected
anthropometric dimension.
• Which percentile value should be used: 5th, 95th, or some
other value? Need to be clear whether designing a lower or
upper limit.
5. Make necessary design modification to the data from

the anthropometric tables.
• Most anthropometric measures are taken with nude or nearly
nude persons. Adjustments need to be made to
accommodate real-life situations
6. Use mock-ups or simulations to test the design.

• Critical to include a representative sample of users.

SST102
PSYC 2220 – HUMAN
FACTORS Design
IN DESIGN
Visibility and Normal Line of Sight

• Ensure that visual displays can be
easily seen and read by workers.
• Requires eyes at proper positions

with respect to viewing
requirements.
• “Normal” line of sight is the preferred

direction of gaze when eyes are at
resting condition (approx. 10-15
below the horizontal plane).
• Visual designs should be placed

within 15 in radius around the
a u d normal
i t o r y , t a line
c t i l e of
a nsight.
d vestibular system 62 of 62
SST102
PSYC 2220 – HUMAN
– Biomechanics of Work
FACTORS IN DESIGN
STUDY UNIT 4
Chapter 2
Biomechanics of Work

SST102
PSYC 2220 – HUMAN
FACTORS IN DESIGN
Lower Back Pain

• NIOSH lifting guide
- An equation to help analyze

lifting demands on lower back
- RWL represents a load value for
a particular sustained lifting task
without developing lower back
problems
RWL = LC X HM X VM X DM X AM X FM X CM

SST102
PSYC 2220 – HUMAN
FACTORS IN DESIGN
RWL = LC X HM X VM X DM X AM X FM X CM

SST102
PSYC 2220 – HUMAN
FACTORS IN DESIGN
E.g. A worker has to lift cartons from 30cm above the ground through 40cm
to a shelf. The horizontal location of the hands is 50cm from the back.
The worker has to twist 45º to pick up the object. This task is completed
every 5 minutes for up to 2 hours per day. The load grip is fair because
there are no handles.
RWL = 23 X 0.63 X 0.87 X 0.93 X 0.86 X 0.95 X 0.95
= 9.1 kg

SST102
PSYC 2220 – HUMAN
FACTORS IN DESIGN

SST102
PSYC 2220 – HUMAN
FACTORS IN DESIGN
Manual Materials Handling

• NIOSH equation suggests:
- Load should be kept close to the
body and located at waist height
- Large items should not be given to
worker lower than midthigh (bending
involved)
- Torso twisting should be minimized
- Frequency should be minimized
(work-rest cycles)

SST102 – Stress
PSYC – HUMAN
2220and Workload
FACTORS IN DESIGN
STUDY UNIT 5
Chapter 1
Stress and Workload

SST102 – Stress
PSYC – HUMAN
2220and Workload
FACTORS IN DESIGN
Level of Arousal
Yerkes-Dodson Law
• Performance increases as
arousal increases up to a
certain point of Optimum
Level of Arousal (trying
harder or threat of loss
providing higher motivation).
• Performance decreases
with overarousal (overload).
• OLA is higher for simpler

tasks than complex ones (or
for experts)
SST102 – Stress
PSYC – HUMAN
2220and Workload
FACTORS IN DESIGN
Performance Changes with Overarousal

• Perceptual or attentional narrowing (tunneling)
- May cause you to focus on the wrong thing.
• Cognitive Tunneling
- Consider only one hypothesis. Creativity affected.
• Working Memory Loss
- Less capable of using WM to store or rehearse
information or perform computations
• Long-Term Memory Intact
- Skills may even be enhanced (most available thoughts)
• Strategic Shifts
- “Do something now” causes Speed-Accuracy Trade-Off

SST102 – Stress
PSYC – HUMAN
2220and Workload
FACTORS IN DESIGN
Mental Workload Measures

• Primary task measures
- Measures of performance on the task itself
- Examples are speed, accuracy, error rate
- Not really a workload measure but assumed to reflect
workload (however, not always the case)
• Secondary task methods

– Measure the reserve capacity left over after
performing the primary task (examples: rhythmic
tapping, mental arithmetic, etc)
– Increasing primary task difficulty will affect secondary
task performance
– High face validity
– Tasks may be intrusive so can use embedded tasks
SST102 – Stress
PSYC – HUMAN
2220and Workload
FACTORS IN DESIGN
Mental Workload Measures

• Physiological measures
– Heart rate
– Heart rate variability (consistent and reliable for MW)
– Blink rate
– EEG
– Pupil diameter
– Visual scanning and fixations
: Correlate well with other measures of MW

: Instruments and equipment may limit their use

– Safety
SST102PSYC and–Accident
2220 HUMANPrevention
FACTORS IN DESIGN
STUDY UNIT 5
Chapter 2
Safety and Accident

Prevention

– Safety
FACTORS IN DESIGN
Human Error – Error Classification

– Inappropriate human behavior that lowers levels of
system effectiveness or safety.
– Focus on the operator at the sharp end of the system.
• Errors of Commission:
– Operator who does something that should not have been done.
– If intended = mistake (e.g., turning into a one-way street)
• Knowledge-based mistakes (lacks knowledge-in-the-head or
world)
• Rule-based mistakes (e.g., misapplies rule in a situation)
– If unintended = Slips (e.g., problem with selection of action)
• Errors of Omission:
– Operator who fails to do something that should have been done.
– Non-intentional error of omission = lapses
– Safety
FACTORS IN DESIGN
Warning Labels
• Critical Components
– Signal Word conveying the seriousness
(Danger, Warning, Caution).
– Description of the hazard
– Consequences associate with the hazard.
– Behavior needed to avoid the hazard.
– Pictographs, if comprehension tested, can
increase the effectiveness of warnings.
• Design Considerations
– Make labels as noticeable as possible
– Place warning next to part of equipment
where user must look at to operate
– Legible font size and contrast
– Meaningful icons and pictures

– Selection
SST102PSYC – HUMAN
2220 and TrainingFACTORS IN DESIGN
STUDY UNIT 5
Chapter 3
Selection and Training

– Selection
SST102PSYC – HUMAN
2220 and TrainingFACTORS IN DESIGN
Transfer of Training
• Simulators
- safer in most cases
- cheaper operating cost in some cases
- can optimize learning conditions
- can be paused to provide feedback
• However, issue of fidelity (realism) of simulator

- high fidelity expensive but may be irrelevant to target task
• Most training produce some positive transfer (to be

worthwhile)
• Should never produce negative transfer
audit-
o rchanging
y , t a c t i l e a layout
n d v e s t i of
b u l controls
ar system 78 of 62
SST102PSYC 2220 – HUMAN
– Human-Computer Interaction
FACTORS IN DESIGN
STUDY UNIT 6
Chapter 1
Human-Computer Interaction

FACTORS IN DESIGN
Usability in the KEY concept in HCI
• Usability
- The degree to which a system is easy to use or “user
friendly”.
• The basic goal of HCI is to improve the interactions
between users and computer systems by making
computers more usable and receptive to the users’
needs.
• User experience goals:
- satisfying, rewarding, helpful,
motivating, aesthetically pleasing, fun,
support creativity, enjoyable,
a u d i t o r emotionally
y , t a c t i l e a n d fulfilling,
v e s t i b u l a r entertaining,
system etc… 80 of 62
FACTORS IN DESIGN
Design Criteria for Usable Software
• Learnability
• Efficiency
• Memorability
• Errors
(Accuracy)
• Satisfaction

FACTORS IN DESIGN
Novice or first-time users

• Focus on ease of learning and low reliance on
memory.
• Vocabulary is highly restricted.
• Tasks are easy to carry out.
• Error messages are constructive and specific.
• Rely on GUI interfaces (icons, pull-down
menus).

FACTORS IN DESIGN
Basic Screen Design

• Basic Screen Design
– Output displays and Input displays
– Screen layout and design principles
Dialog Styles
– Menus (Provide users with a list of items from which to choose)
– Fill-in Forms (Provides blank spaces in which to ender alpha or numeric info)
– Question-Answer (Provides questions, user types answer in field provided)
– Command Languages (At prompt, user types in command using syntax)
– Function Keys (Commands given by pressing special keys or combinations)
– Direct Manipulation (Users perform actions directly on visible objects)
• Conclusion
– Must match characteristics of the dialog style to those of the
user and the tasks being performed.
FACTORS IN DESIGN
Usability Testing – the Lab

FACTORS IN DESIGN
Usability Testing – the Users

120
100
Percent of Usability Problems Found
80
60
40
20
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Number of Test Users
Graph shows that 80% of usability problems can be

determined by about 5-6 users. Fifteen users can find
auditory, t100%
a c t i l e of
a nthe
d v problems.
estibular system 85 of 62
FACTORS IN DESIGN
Usability Metrics
• Effectiveness
• Efficiency
• User Satisfaction

FACTORS IN DESIGN
Usability Metrics - Effectiveness
• Percent of tasks completed

• Ratio of successes to failures
• Number of features or commands used

FACTORS IN DESIGN
Usability Metrics - Efficiency

• Time to complete a task
• Time to learn
• Time spent on errors
• Percent or number of errors
• Frequency of “help” or documentation use
• Number of repetition of failed commands.

FACTORS IN DESIGN
Usability Metrics – User Satisfaction
• Rating scale for usefulness of the software

• Rating scale for satisfaction with features
• Number of times user express frustration or
dissatisfaction
• Perception that the software supports tasks as needed
by user.

FACTORS IN DESIGN
Usability Testing
• Best to use 5-6 people to identify problems.
• Make changes (refine the interface) and test again.
• The maximum benefit/cost ratio occurs with
approximately 5 evaluation and redesign cycles.
• Even as many as 60 cycles can produce a benefit/cost
ratio greater than one.
• Have programmers observe the users.
• Pitfalls
- Testing with prototypes not grounded in an
understanding of user tasks and HF guidelines will
produce flawed refinements
a u d i t o r-y Fixation
, t a c t i l e a on
n d vartificial
e s t i b u l a r controlled
system environment (lab) 90 of 62

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SST102 – Intro to Human Factors and Systems

5 Approaches to Human Factors

Design and Evaluation

• HF experts usually not brought in until after a product

User Centered Design: Know Thy User

Characteristics of User-Centered Design

HF in the Product Design Life Cycle

• Stage 2: Iterative Design and Testing (interface design, develop

• Stage 3: System Production

Front End Analysis (FEA)

Manufacturers should answer the following questions before

1. Who are the product/system users?

Iterative Design and Testing

Visual Sensory Systems

Rods and Cones:

Rods & Cones

2) Acuity - Fine detail resolved on closely spaced cones

3) Sensitivity - Greater for rods (try looking directly at a star at night)

Rods & Cones

2) Adaptation - Rods lose sensitivity with light stimulation

3) Differential Wavelength Sensitivity

• Fine print and narrow stroke widths not good choices.

• 9/11 point font (reading distance), 12-14 for VDT

• Maximize contrast: Employ black on white rather than

UPPERCASE PRINT IS MORE DIFFICULT TO READ IF

Lowercase print is more easier to read if all sentences

Bottom-Up vs Top-Down Processing

Lower levels of stimulus The Senses

Quality of sensory information

Depth Perception: Bottom-up

– Bottom-Up 3-D cues are usually effective

Depth Perception: Top-Down

Auditory, Tactile, and

auditory, tactile and vestibular system 20 of 62

Use Auditory or Visual?

Message is simple and short Message is complex and long

Message will not be referred to later Message will be referred to later

Message needs immediate action Message doesn’t need immediate action

Visual system is overburdened Auditory system is overburdened

Location is too bright or dark Location is too noisy

Job requires moving about Job allows staying in one location

auditory, tactile and vestibular system 21 of 62

auditory, tactile and vestibular system 22 of 62

auditory, tactile and vestibular system 23 of 62

MODEL OF HUMAN INFORMATION PROCESSING

auditory, tactile and vestibular system 24 of 62

Selection of what to attend to is driven by four factors:

auditory, tactile and vestibular system 25 of 62

Can there be perception without attention???

auditory, tactile and vestibular system 26 of 62

• Sometimes termed Short-Term Memory

auditory, tactile and vestibular system 27 of 62

• 7 +/- 2 chunks of information (Miller’s magic

• A chunk is a unit (1 bit of info) of working

auditory, tactile and vestibular system 28 of 62

• Extent to which units are “chunked” depends

• Chunking decreases the number of items in

auditory, tactile and vestibular system 29 of 62

• Chunks not just memory units but can form

• Combine physical and cognitive chunking:

MRT PIE HDB CTE

auditory, tactile and vestibular system 30 of 62

• Provide visual echoes of auditory information that can be rescanned later if