Human Factors Engineering

Who should attend?
This course is intended for engineers, psychologists, medical professionals, managers, and others interested in human factors, ergonomics, human-computer interaction, or usability. Attendees typically work for industry, government, or the military. Many participants are not human factors specialists, but mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, chemists and others for whom human use of systems is a concern.

Why should you attend?
The course, in its 52nd year, is the only intensive (multi-week) overview of human factors/ergonomics of which we are aware. The course starts at 8:30 am every day and most evenings there are activities. There is also ½ day class on Saturday. The course is taught by an experienced group of 10 lecturers from academia and industry, including 3 past presidents of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. The course typically attracts a broad mix of attendees from industry and government. The variety of backgrounds and applications enriches the course for everyone.

What will you learn?
Themes of the course

1. What problems are we trying to solve? Provide a broad overview of the problems and topics covered by human factors engineering. See lecture titles.
2. What is the science? Describe the principles, concepts, and theoretical models that aid in evaluating and maximising human performance.
3. How do we do it? Describe the process (methods and procedures) for evaluating systems, functions, interfaces, and services. (Engineering 1)
4. What are the data? Identify human factors data that is relevant to the design of systems, products and services. (Engineering 2)
5. How has/should have/could have it been done? Provide examples of how the methods and data have been applied to design. (Engineering 3)
6. Where is there more information? Identify sources of reference data useful to the human factors specialist. (Engineering 4)

Expected outcomes
The attendee will gain a broad, comprehensive background in the subject of human factors engineering/ergonomics, which goes far beyond what they could learn in a 1 or 2 day appreciation course. They will not become a human factors expert in 2 weeks, any more than they can become an electrical engineer in 2 weeks. However, the will obtain an extensive introduction to the theories and principles, information on relevant engineering data, extensive lists of current references on many topics, and contacts with key people in the profession.

Course duration
2 week program (can be taken 1 week at a time)

Course content
Week 1 of this intensive course is a broad survey of human factors topics important to designers and researchers.

• Introduction to human factors
• Advanced displays
• Anthropometry
• Cognitive task analysis
• Human error
• Human-system integration
• Human vision
• Manual task analysis
• Motor skills and manual controls
• Occupational biomechanics
• Perception, memory and cognition
• Situation awareness
• Visual displays
• Workload

Week 2 presents an overview of major topics and issues in human-computer interaction together with mini-workshops and seminars on selected principles, methods, and procedures providing the foundation for effective human-computer systems and web application design.

• Trends in human-computer interaction
• Aesthetics
• Automation
• Cognitive task analysis
• Computer-supported cooperative work
• Cost-benefit analysis
• GOMS task analysis
• How to apply human factors material
• Inclusive design
• Screen and widget design
• Software human factors
• Speech interfaces
• Usability testing
• User interface evaluation methods
• Web interface design

Assessment
none

What's included?
The course fee includes 2 weeks of instruction and lunch

Recommended pre-requisites
none

Locations
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Cost
Week 1 $2950, Week 2 $2950, Both weeks $4800

Contact details
Sandra Hines, 2401 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, Tel: 734-647-7176, Email: hinesone@umich.edu. Web http://interpro.engin.umich.edu/humanfactors