1. SMART
TECHNOLOGY
NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR
HUMAN FACTORS RESEARCH
pieces of content
produced every hour
1.5
billion
6.7
things connected
to the internet (exceeding
people on Earth in 2008)
wearable devices
in the market already
(178 million by 2018)
22
million
THE CHANGING HF PICTURE
• Traditionally, HF research has faced challenges in
gaining realistic user behaviour insights, limiting its
value in new product and healthcare development
• Users are often aware when they are monitored,
leading to altered behaviours, artificial conditions,
and over dependence on moderator expertise
• The advent and exponential growth in wearable
smart devices world-wide, is creating an
unprecedented opportunity for HF research
• From low cost unobtrusive patches to the latest
lap top and smart phone we are generating and
transmitting data about ourselves constantly
• Gender, age, associations, likes, experience,
behaviours and much more can now be analysed
with biological, geographic and environmental data
• The time is now for HF research to embrace this
opportunity for unobtrusive data collection on a
practically unlimited scale
“Smart technology is an unprecedented
opportunity for unobtrusive HF research,
generating rich, accurate data, deeper
insight and in turn better products.”
CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS
• The cultural trend is to carry smart devices at all
times and readily share text, images, video, likes,
dislikes and behaviours globally, via social media
• Patients and vulnerable members of society are
located, positioned vertically or horizontally, vital
signs measured and communicated with directly
• Athletes collect and transmit incredible accurate,
performance data, communicating speed, direction,
oxygen levels, temperature, instructions, etc.
• Consumer and industrial products of all descriptions
are increasingly smart and inked to the internet,
providing condition data and user functionality
• Smart clothing is evolving to collect data through
woven integrated sensors to monitor different areas
of patients’ bodies and movement
• Internal diagnostic and therapeutic smart devices
are ingestible and implantable in animals and people
to improve healthcare management
“In a recent HF user study conducted by PA
Consulting Group, with a mixed population
of male and female 65-80 year olds; every
one of them had a smartphone!”
THE SMART HF SOLUTION
• Accurate sensors developed and finely tuned to
capture key biological, behavioural, location and
environmental condition data
• Ubiquitous connectivity through mobile, wi-fi
and near-field communications, to access different
demographics and use scenarios
• Reliable integration, storage and management
of data in various formats from multiple sources and
channels, globally
• Clever algorithm and software development,
to extract valuable information from potentially
massive and unstructured data sets
• Robust security processes and culture to ensure
user consent, data protection and confidentiality are
maintained at all times
• HF expertise to specify the information
requirement and interpret the processed data for
deeper insight and better product development
“Unobtrusive acquisition of large volumes
of rich user insight via smart technology is
rapidly evolving from interesting to essential
and will soon be the norm in HF research.”
For more information please email: simon.moss@paconsulting.com
www.paconsulting.com
User awareness
Altered behaviour
Moderator dependent
Abnormal situation
Misleading results
Limited data sets
Low efficiency research
TRADITIONAL CHALLENGES EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES
Unobtrusive wearables
Unprecedented scale
Highly personalised
Multiple scenarios
More effective research
Deeper insight
Better products
billion