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See also The Human Factor (disambiguation).

"Human Factors" (HF) is a catch-all term that covers;

• The science of understanding the properties of human capability (Human Factors Science).

• The application of this understanding to the design and development of systems and services (Human Factors Engineering)

• The art of ensuring successful application of Human Factors Engineering to a programme (sometimes referred to as Human Factors Integration (HFI) )

The term "human factors" is to a large extent synonymous with the term "Ergonomics" having separate origins either side of the Atlantic but covering the same technical areas: however nowadays the terms are used more or less interchangeably.

Contents 1 Introduction 2 Human Factors Science 2.1 The human-machine model 3 Human Factors Engineering 4 Human Factors Integration 5 See also 6 External links 6.1 Organizations 6.2 Agencies 6.2.1 European 6.2.2 United States 6.3 Projects 6.4 External resources

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Simply put, human factors involves the study of all aspects of the way humans relate to the world around them, with the aim of improving operational performance, safety, through life costs and/or adoption through improvement in the experience of the end user.

The terms "human factors" and "Ergonomics" have only been widely known in recent times: the field's origin is in the design and use of aircraft during World War II to improve aviation safety. It was in reference to the psychologists and physiologists working at that time and the work that they were doing that the terms "applied psychology", "applied psychologist" and “ergonomics” were first coined.

Other terms used to describe the discipline and their related professions are;

• Human Factors > Human Factors Practitioner
• Ergonomics > Ergonomist
• Human Factors Engineering > Human Factors Engineer

Sub-disciplines or specialisations within this field include:

• Cognitive Ergonomics > Cognitive Engineer
• Usability > Usability Engineer - Usability Professional
• Human Computer / Human Machine Interaction > HCI Engineer
• User Experience > User Experience Engineer

This is not an exhaustive list and new terms are being generated all the time. For instance “User Trial Engineer” may refer to a HF professional that specialises in user trials. Although the names change HF professionals share a underlying vision (see “the Human Factors Community’s Vision”) that through the application of HF the design of equipment, systems and working methods will be improved and therefore have a direct effect (for the better) on people’s lives.

Human factors practitioners can come from a variety of backgrounds; though predominantly they are Psychologists (Cognitive, Perceptual, and Experimental) and physiologists. Designers (Industrial, Interaction, and Graphic), Anthropologists, Technical communication Scholars and Computer Scientists also contribute. Though some practitioners enter the field of Human Factors from other disciplines, both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Human Factors Engineering are available from several universities worldwide.

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"Human Factors" are sets of human-specific physical, mental and behavioral properties which either may interact in a critical or dangerous manner with technological systems, human natural environment and human organizations, or they can be taken under consideration in the design of ergonomic human-user oriented equipments. The choice/identification of human factors usually depends on their possible negative or positive impact on the functioning of human-organization and human-machine system.

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see also: human-machine system

The simple human-machine model is of a person interacting with a machine in some kind of environment. The person and machine are both modeled as information-processing devices, each with inputs, central processing, and outputs. The inputs of a person are the senses (e.g., eyes, ears) and the outputs are effectors (e.g., hands, voice). The inputs of a machine are input control devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse) and the outputs are output display devices (e.g., screen, auditory alerts). The environment can be characterized physically (e.g., vibration, noise, zero-gravity), cognitively (e.g., time pressure, uncertainty, risk), and/or organizationally (e.g., organizational structure, job design). This provides a convenient way for organizing some of the major concerns of human engineering: the selection and design of machine displays and controls; the layout and design of workplaces; design for maintainability; and the design of the work environment.

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"Human Factors" is also the name of an engineering profession that focuses on how people interact with tasks, machines (or computers), and the environment with the consideration that humans have limitations and capabilities. Often, human factors will study the human within the system to ensure that we understand the limitations of the human within the current structure, product, or process. Human factors engineers will evaluate human to human, human to group, or human to organizational interactions to better understand the phenomena associated with these interactions and to develop a framework for evaluation.

Areas of interest for human factors practitioners may include: training, staffing evaluation, communication, task analyses, functional requirements analyses and allocation, job descriptions and functions, procedures and procedure use, knowledge, skills, and abilities; organizational culture, human-machine interaction, workload on the human, fatigue, situational awareness, usability, user interface, learnability, attention, vigilance, human performance, human reliability, human-computer interaction, control and display design, stress, visualization of data, individual differences, aging, accessibility, safety, shift work, work in extreme environments including virtual environments, human error, and decision making.

• Alphonse Chapanis
• Crew Resource Management
• Engineering psychology
• Ergonomics
• Experience design
• High velocity human factors
• Human-centered computing (discipline)
• Human computer interaction
• Human reliability
• Industrial Design
• Latent human error
• Maintenance Resource Management (MRM)
• Paul Fitts
• Systems engineering
• Ubiquitous computing
• User-centered design
• User experience design

• Human Factors and Ergonomics Society which includes a Directory of Graduate Programs
• HFES Europe Chapter
• Department of Defense Human Factors Engineering Technical Advisory Group (DOD HFE TAG)
• Human Systems Integration Information Analysis Center (HSIIAC)
• Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI) of the Association for Computing Machinery
• Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society of the IEEE
• Association for Aviation Psychology
• Division of Applied Experimental and Engineering Psychology (Division 21) of the American Psychological Association
• Human Factors Technical Committee of the Society of Automotive Engineers
• Human Factors Section of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA)

• European Union's UsabilityNet
• Eurocontrol's Human Factors, Manpower, and Training of the European Air Traffic Management Programme
• Ergonomics and Safety Research Institute

• NASA Ames Human Systems Integration Division
• FAA Technical Center Human Factors Laboratory
• FAA Human Factors
• Defense Technical Information Center San Diego Office
• Human Effectiveness Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
• Human Research and Engineering Directorate of the Army Research Laboratory

• Virtual Reality and Human Factors Applications for Improving Safety (2005-2009)
• NASA Ames human factors technical areas and projects

• Bad Human Factors Designs
• ErgoWeb, the leading ergonomics list-server and online forum
• Office Ergonomics Training
• Directory of Design Support Methods
• Index of Non-Government Standards on Human Engineering...
• Index of Government Standards on Human Engineering...
• Research Center For Work Safety and Human Engineering, Technion, Israel