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What are Human Factors?

Human factors (also known as ergonomic) is the study of how humans behave physically and psychologically in relation to particular environments, products, or services.

Many large companies use inhouse, or outsourced, Human Factors experts to study how a new product will be accepted by the users that it is designed for. Usability is often used as an alternative to human factors, although human factors is really a larger area of study.

A typical human factors study is similar to a usability study, where a group of test subjects, representing future end users, are given tasks to do with a working prototype of a product.

The test subjects are observed and videotaped while doing a task, and asked to speak out any problems or observations they encounter. They are also interviewed after each test.

Depending on objectives, the result of a human factors study can include suggestions on how to improve a product design or general guidelines for designing such a product.

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