Clik here to view.
Time.com article on Anne’s research with Games & Aging
Our own Anne McLaughlin was featured in a recent article in Time.com. Anne and her colleagues Jason Allaire (NCSU) and Maribeth Gandy (Georgia Tech) were recently awarded a $1.2 million grant from...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When Users Complain: Blackboard
There is a great article over at Inside Higher Ed. describing what happens when a company without evidence of a usability process finally asks its users for feedback. At an open “listening session”...
View ArticleClik here to view.
HF Graduate Programs: Clemson University
This is the first post in our 2-part look at some HF programs. Anne’s post about North Carolina State University’s program can be found here. Did you know that Human Factors is not only a fun blog,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Keyless Ignition in Emergencies: Do you know what to do?
This story in the LA Times illustrates several important HF/usability issues. First, the importance of knowing what the user knows before introducing new, seemingly “simple” technology, or changing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
HF Graduate Programs: North Carolina State University
This is the second post in our 2-part look at some HF programs. Rich’s post about Clemson’s program can be found here. The psychology graduate program at NCSU in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.A,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Redesigning Toyota’s Keyless Ignition System
The LA Times reporters Ken Bensinger and Ralph Vartabedian recently wrote a story about keyless ignition systems and the associated HF issues (we blogged about it here). In a follow-up story, they...
View ArticleCareers in Human Factors & Aging
A graduate student contacted me with questions about career paths for those of us in HF with an aging background. This sounded like a great opportunity for discussion so I’m posting it here. If you...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Human Factors Blog @ SXSW
Anne was invited to be a panelist at SXSW on Friday, March 12 at 05:00 PM. SXSW is a yearly music, movie, and interactive media festival held in Austin, TX. The title of the interactive panel is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Facebook and Privacy: A Guest Post by Kelly Caine
Many of my friends have threatened to leave Facebook because of their concerns over privacy, but for the first time, this week one of them actually made good on the threat. In his “Dear John” letter,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Accidental Activation During Seat Adjustment on Plane
CNN posted this story where a co-pilot accidentally bumped a control while adjusting his seat, sending the plane into a 26 degree dive. Disaster was only averted by the pilot returning from the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Radiation: The Difficulty of Monitoring the Invisible – Post 2 of 2
This post continues the list of articles on HF-related errors in radiation delivering healthcare devices. As Technology Surges, Radiation Safeguards Lag But the technology introduces its own risks: it...
View ArticleClik here to view.
For projectors, new technology means new training (and new errors!)
Mode errors! Coming soon to a theater near you? Have you ever forgotten to set your camera back to Auto from Portrait? How about not understanding what those modes mean? Apparently a similar...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Verdict Reached for Air France Rio Crash
The BBC has reported the incident analysis of the Air France crash that killed 228 people was due to lack of pilot skill in dealing with a high altitude stall. Here is a link to the BEA Report from...
View ArticleHumans and Automation on the Colbert Report
Look! A human factors colleague on the Colbert Report! Does this mean we’re cool? Dr. Missy Cummings, Associate Professor at MIT Director of the Humans and Automation Lab The Colbert Report Get More:...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Excerpts from the NASA ASRS
One of my students last semester (thanks, Ronney!) turned me on the “Callback” publication from the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System. These are almost all first person stories written as case...
View ArticleAnne & Rich Interviewed about Human Factors
Anne and I are big proponents of making sure the world knows what human factors is all about (hence the blog). Both of us were recently interviewed separately about human factors in general as well as...
View ArticleWiener’s Laws
The article “The Human Factor” in Vanity Fair is two years old, but since I can’t believe I missed posting it — here it is! It’s a riveting read with details of the Air France Flight 447 accident and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Did a User Interface Kill 10 Navy Sailors?
I chose a provocative title for this post after reading the report on what caused the wreck of the USS John McCain in August of 2017. A summary of the accident is that the USS John McCain was in...
View ArticleLion Air Crash from October 2018
From CNN: The passengers on the Lion Air 610 flight were on board one of Boeing’s newest, most advanced planes. The pilot and co-pilot of the 737 MAX 8 were more than experienced, with around 11,000...
View Article