Sometimes it’s good to take a step back from the seriousness of our work and find new focus. H(aiku)man factors is the brainchild of my colleague Douglas Gillan. Each summarizes a concept in the field while following the haiku form of 5-7-5 and an emphasis on juxtoposition and inclusion of nature. Enjoy and contribute your own in the comments!

All of the above are by Doug Gillan.

Other contributions:

Inattentional blindness by Allaire Welk
Unicycling clown
Challenging primary task
Did you notice it?

Affordances by Lawton Pybus
round, smooth ball is thrown
rolls, stops at the flat, wing-back
chair on which I sit

Escalation by Olga Zielinska
headache, blurred vision
do not explore Web MD
it’s not a tumor

Automatic Processing by Anne McLaughlin
end of the workday
finally get to go home
arugh, forgot groceries

Automation by Richard Pak
Siri, directions!
No wait, I’ll get it myself
Drat, I forgot how

Prospective Memory by Natalee Baldwin
I forgot the milk!
Prospective memory failed
Use a reminder

Working Memory by Will Leidheiser
copious knowledge.
how much can I remember?
many things at once.