CS and QA Graduate Human Factors - Human Factors Problem Identification

Richard Halstead-Nussloch, Ph.D.
rhalstea@spsu.edu
(770)528-5509

Due (list):

Objectives

At the end of this exercise, students will be able to:

• State and discuss human factors, human-computer interaction (HCI), and the value of human factors and HCI in computing.
• Identify human factors and ergonomics problems.
• Describe the problem with an explanation of why it is a problem, i.e., what human factor or capability is stretched beyond its limit.
• Discuss the problem.

Assignment

1) Using a paragraph for each, answer the following questions:

• What is Human Factors?
• What is Human-Computer Interaction?
• What is Quality Assurance?
• What is the value of human factors and HCI in computing?
• What is the value of human factors in quality assurance?

2) Identify a human factors or ergonomics problem, that is a product, process, user interface etc. that requires humans or users to stretch beyond their capability limits.

3) Document this problem in a one-page (or smaller) report. Include:

• Describe the situation.
• State the human capabilities involved.
• State the limits on human capability that are violated making this situation a human factors problem.
• Describe and explain the consequences of this problem in terms of, e.g., productivity, quality, ergonomics comfort, costs, etc.

An example of a Human Factors Problem

SITUATION DESCRIPTION: A significant percentage of people who leave voicemail messages for me state the phone number at a speed appropriate for someone who already knows the phone number. A significant percentage of people who state the number too fast also run the digits together, making it difficult for me to understand the numbers being said.

HUMAN CAPABILITIES INVOLVED:

• Human hearing
• Human speech perception
• Human message composition

HUMAN CAPABILITY LIMITS EXCEEDED:

• Auditory presentation rate is too high for a situation of low familiarity.
• Auditory discriminability is too low for a situation of low familiarity.
• People leaving messages either forget or don't know about the effects of low familiarity and/or the social protocols of leaving messages.

CONSEQUENCES

• Teacher and student productivity decline because of extra time to replay messages, errors, etc.
• Quality of instruction declines due to errors, decreased productivity, etc.

Put your answer into a written report of about 2 pages of text. Put your name, the course number and name (CS6323 Human Factors or QA6722 Human Factors in Quality Assurance) on the upper right of the first page of your report. Do not use a cover page. Staple the pages together in the upper left corner.