Doctrain East Games To Explain Human Factors: Come, Participate, Learn and Have Fun!!! 2008 Preview

Ronald G. Shapiro, Ph. D. IBM Games To Explain Human Factors: A National Ergonomics Month (NEM)* Presentation *NEM is sponsored by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Come, Participate, Learn and Have Fun!!! Copyright © 2008

If you were to better understand how you, your clients and customers process information would you produce better quality content? Would you be able to design, develop, test, and deploy better products? Would this increase sales or reduce service calls due to “user error”? Would client satisfaction improve? Why not find out? Using a Game Show format and at least 25 activities and games, this session illustrates how information developers and other professionals can optimize information design and other aspects of their solutions to capitalize on human strengths and compensate for human weaknesses. We’ll first study the steps involved as people process information: sense, perceive, learn, store information in memory, retrieve information from memory, make decisions, respond, and interact in a social environment. We’ll emphasize learning about human strengths and weaknesses at each step along the way so that you will be able to better design to optimize utilization of these strengths and compensate for these weaknesses in the information and systems that you design, develop, test and deploy. Abstract

Next, we’ll discuss some tools of the trade: observation, task analysis, usability testing, and communication. We’ll review what you can do right after the session. We’ll conclude our formal session with a comprehension check (final exam) that will be fun and will provide a chance to explain how you might use some of the principles learned during the session as well as catch up on a few details that you may have missed during the session. Finally, we’ll award nice prizes to our winners. As an added bonus, you’ll learn how to lead some educational (and fun) activities with your colleagues, family (including the elementary and high school kids), and friends when you return home. This highly interactive session is an excellent way to begin your conference while learning, having fun, and possibly winning prizes. Please come to Games to Explain Human Factors . If you participate, you will learn, have fun, and possibly develop ideas that will ultimately help you to advance your career!!! Abstract (continued) Copyright © 1998 - 2005 Raquel Shapiro, Ed.D. and Ronald G. Shapiro, Ph.D. Copyright © 2008 The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Human Factors

A branch of applied science aimed at matching machines and tasks with the abilities of their human operators.

The study, discovery, and application of information about human abilities, human limitations, and other human characteristics to the design of tools, devices, machines, systems, job tasks, and environments for effective human performance -- Alphonse Chapanis

Ergonomics (or human factors) is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data, and other methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance. -- International Ergonomics Association

August 2000

Addendum:

Some modern definitions include "Fun To Use" as part of usability.

Definitions of Human Factors

What Needs To Be Understood To "Do" Human Factors? Our Agenda

The Person

What Do People Do?

The System

Computer, Pharmacy, Vehicle, Aircraft, Consumer Appliance...

Person/System Interaction

What is best done by a person?

What Is best done by a machine?

What is the optimal system design?

Tools of the Trade

Problem Identification

Emphasis on finding the problem before it occurs

Task Analysis

Usability Testing

What Can You Do Today?

Comprehension Check

Summary

What Do People Do?

Sense

Perceive/Assume/Interpret/Think

Learn (Teach and Communicate)

Provide and receive feedback/reinforcement

Adapt to new situations

Develop strategies to cope with interference

Learn to observe and measure more effectively

Store information in memory

Retrieve Information from memory

Decide how to respond

Respond (Anthropometrics)

Multitask

Do more than one process at the “same time”

Interact in a Social Environment

Studying The Person Following A Human Factors Framework

Games To Explain Human Factors Is So Much Fun!!! Please Come Participate Have Fun!!! Learn Win a prize!!! Wednesday, October 29, 2008 08:30 AM -> Noon Salon G – H

Please come to this session. It promises to be informative and fun!!! A 141 Slide Presentation and Instructor’s Guide will be distributed, upon request, to all attendees at this session via email. Educators in primary and secondary schools, colleges, and universities who are unable to attend the conference may contact the author to request a copy. A photo album of pictures taken at this session will be placed on SlideShare within a few days after DocTrain East.

Games To Explain Human Factors provided you with a thought process:

To help you --

• Design • Evaluate • Communicate • Observe

• Teach • Learn • Test

And encourage you to --

Think out of the box

Think about human capabilities and limitations, instructions and errors differently

Think from multiple perspectives

So that you will develop better products

This will in turn be of benefit to the recipient of your work: your customers, your colleagues, and your family.

Games also provided you with a powerful way to help you introduce human factors (HF) to technical professionals, teachers and students while having fun.