Human Factors

•Physiological Aspects

•Psychological Aspects

•Human Interface with World of

Work
Physiological Aspects of Human
Performance

• Physical structure of skeleton, muscles,

nervous system, and metabolic processes
• Bones-spine and upper and lower
• Connected at body joints, wrist, knee etc
• Joints connected by ligaments
• Muscles contract and move bones
• Expend energy to move
• Biomechanics of motion
Psychological Aspects of Human
Activities

• What motivates people?

• Do people like being idle?
• Americans want “job enrichment”?
• Who has the best ideas on how to increase
productivity?
• What makes people more positive at work?
Psychological Aspects of Human
Activities
• People are still motivated by money
• People would rather be doing productive work than
be idle
• Many workers do not necessarily want “job
enrichment”
• Workers often have the best ideas on how to
increase productivity if only asked
• Most people respond ++ when they know
objectives, what their jobs are, that they will be
treated fairly, consistently and with respect
Human Interface with Work

• Important interfaces
– Work Environment
– Social Structures
– Machines
– Information/Communication Systems
– Organizational/Supervisory Structure
– Robots/”Intelligent Machines”
Interface with Work Environment

• IE’s design workplaces

• Optimal location for devices
• Illumination
• Atmosphere
• Safe and Attractive
Interface with Machines
• Human serves a control function
• Human factors data used to select size,
shape and location of controls
• Humans are better at:
– Recognizing….
– Storing….
– Other words….
What are we better at?
• Recognizing complex patterns
• Recognizing unusual/unexpected events
• Storing lots of info, long time, strategies
• Quick retrieval, associating, inferring
• Adapting the decision process
• Reasoning inductively
• Discerning most important activities
What are machines better at?
• Monitoring prespecified events
• Storing quantitative data quickly (lots)
• Retrieving and processing data quickly
• Performing repetitive activities
• Responding to inputs consistently, fast
• Ignoring distractions
Interface with
Information/Communication
Systems – One portion
• Auditory vs. Visual Presentation
• Auditory
– Message short, simple
– Not referred to later
– Deals with events in time
– Calls for immediate action
– Visual system overburdened
– Too bright, have to move a lot
More Interface: Auditory or Visual
• Visual
– Message is complex and long
– Referred to later
– Deals with location in space
– Does not call for immediate action
– Auditory system overburdened
– Location is noisy, worker in one position