Designing Synthetic Tasks for Human Factors Research: An Application to Uninhabited Air Vehicles

Research from different laboratories could be compared more easily if a common set of research tasks were used. Such tasks should be amenable to controlled laboratory research, yet the results should generalize to important real-world tasks. In this paper, we describe the design of synthetic tasks, which are research tasks constructed by systematic abstraction from a corresponding real-world task. We present as an example a laboratory task (the cloud-break task) derived from a particularly demanding part of the reconnaissance mission of the USAF Predator uninhabited air vehicle. We describe potential pitfalls in decoupling a synthetic task from its normal mission context, and discuss some lessons learned from a preliminary design study.

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General Aviation Weather Hazards:Current Human Factors Research, Pilot Practices, and Tools

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/1071181320641032 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 64 (1) ◽

pp. 123-126

Author(s):

Beth Blickensderfer ◽

Lori J Brown ◽

Alyssa Greenman ◽

Jayde King ◽

Brandon Pitts

Keyword(s):

Human Factors ◽

Panel Discussion ◽

General Aviation ◽

Transportation Safety ◽

Laboratory Research ◽

Related Factors ◽

Future Directions ◽

The Past ◽

Flight Operations ◽

Human Factors Research

When General Aviation (GA) pilots encounter unexpected weather hazards in-flight, the results are typically deadly. It is unsurprising that the National Transportation Safety Board repeatedly lists weather related factors in GA flight operations as an unsolved aviation safety challenge. Solving this problem requires multidisciplinary perspectives. Fortunately, in the past several years innovative laboratory research and industry products have become available. This panel discussion brings together Human Factors and Ergonomics researchers and practitioners to discuss and describe the current work and future directions to avoid weather related accidents in GA.

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Human Factors in Cybersecurity – Perspectives from Industries

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/1541931218621032 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 62 (1) ◽

pp. 139-143 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nathan Lau ◽

Robert Pastel ◽

Melissa R Chapman ◽

Jennifer Minarik ◽

Jonathan Petit ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Human Factors ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Security Challenge ◽

Level Of Effort ◽

Human Factors Research

Today, cybersecurity is impacting every individual and industry, but the level of effort from the human factors community seems negligible compared to the magnitude of the current security challenge. This panel invites professionals in the healthcare, computer and network, higher education, and automotive industries to share experiences, lessons learned and solutions. The panel characterizes the security landscape in different industries and facilitate discussion on human factors research and applications to address the formidable security challenge.

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Current Challenges and Opportunities for Better Integration of Human Factors Research with Development of Clinical Information Systems

Yearbook of Medical Informatics ◽

10.1055/s-0038-1638638 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 18 (01) ◽

pp. 48-58 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

J. J. Saleem ◽

A. L. Russ ◽

P. Sanderson ◽

T. R. Johnson ◽

J. Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Information Systems ◽

Human Factors ◽

User Satisfaction ◽

Clinical Decision Making ◽

Clinical Information System ◽

Healthcare Delivery ◽

Clinical Information ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Clinical Information Systems ◽

Human Factors Research

Summary Objectives Clinical information system (CIS) developers and implementers have begun to look to other scientific disciplines for new methods, tools, and techniques to help them better understand clinicians and their organizational structures, clinical work environments, capabilities of clinical information and communications technology, and the way these structures and processes interact. The goal of this article is to help CIS researchers, developers, implementers, and evaluators better understand the methods, tools, techniques, and literature of the field of human factors. Methods We developed a framework that explains how six key human factors topics relate to the design, implementation, and evaluation of CISs. Results Using this framework we discuss the following six topics: 1) informatics and patient safety; 2) user interface design and evaluation; 3) workflow and task analysis; 4) clinical decision making and decision support; 5) distributed cognition; and 6) mental workload and situation awareness. Conclusions Integrating the methods, tools, and lessons learned from each of these six areas of human factors research early in CIS design and incorporating them iteratively during development can improve user performance, user satisfaction, and integration into clinical workflow. Ultimately, this approach will improve clinical information systems and healthcare delivery.

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Introducing and Promoting Human Factors in the Real World: A Case Study

Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193128703100709 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 31 (7) ◽

pp. 732-735 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Linda Rich

Keyword(s):

Human Factors ◽

Real World ◽

Development Process ◽

Organizational Context ◽

Pilot Project ◽

Systems Development ◽

The Real ◽

Underlying Causes ◽

Human Factors Research

The application of human factors research outside academic and vendor domains has been limited, with corporate systems development departments often unaware of the field. Introducing human factors within a corporation requires addressing organizational context issues in the particular setting. At Chemical Bank a pilot project was conducted to introduce and promote the application of human factors in the design of interactive computer systems. The project involved comparative usability evaluations of existing systems, and development of recommendations for institutionalizing human factors within the development process. The project sought to tailor recommendations to the organizational context. This paper discusses the Chemical Bank project and presents an analysis of the underlying causes limiting the use of human factors techniques in that organization.

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Rapid Prototyping Improves Research on Red-Light-Running Behavior

Ergonomics in Design The Quarterly of Human Factors Applications ◽

10.1518/106480407x255215 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 23-27

Author(s):

Miguel A. Perez ◽

Zachary R. Doerzaph ◽

Suzanne E. Lee ◽

Vicki L. Neale

Keyword(s):

Rapid Prototyping ◽

Human Factors ◽

Research Design ◽

Red Light ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Rare Occurrence ◽

Red Light Running ◽

Test Track ◽

Design Concepts ◽

Human Factors Research

FEATURE AT A GLANCE: Unintentional red-light running is a relatively rare occurrence in everyday driving, but it can lead to serious crashes. While developing systems that warn drivers who are about to run a red light, we conducted tests that allowed us to place naive drivers in unexpected red-light-running scenarios on a test track. By adapting rapid prototyping design concepts, we were able to quickly iterate through research scenarios and develop a method that was repeatable, efficient, and realistic. We discuss lessons learned and pitfalls to avoid in the application of rapid prototyping concepts to human factors research design.

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