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HF Graduate Programs: North Carolina State University

by Anne McLaughlin
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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, boasts eight faculty in the Human Factors and Ergonomics specialization. This is in addition to the faculty in our sister program in Industrial Engineering and related faculty in [...]

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HF Graduate Programs: Clemson University

by Richard Pak
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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, but something you could get a graduate degree in?  The field is known by many names but they are the same, more or [...]

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Environmental Controls: Spotlight on Volvo

by Anne McLaughlin
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I rode in a colleague’s new Volvo the other day and I love the environmental controls. The button lights up when active, showing where the airflow is going. Notice how the fan speed control is integrated into air direction display so they each add information to the other.
Compare to the older Volvo buttons, which had a similar theme but not [...]

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Publically Available Databases for Research

by Richard Pak
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This is just a placeholder post to collect Anne’s collection of publicly available safety data:

Data visualization tools
Occupational safety
Aviation safety
Mining safety

Share/Save

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Web-based tool to measure task workload

by Richard Pak
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I frequently use the NASA TLX workload assessment tool to measure a user’s perceived workload after they complete a task (e.g., complete an information search task). When the test is administered with paper it can be quite laborious to administer and score. A stand-alone computer-based version has been available but has some usability issues itself. For [...]

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HFBlog at HFES 2009 in San Antonio

by Richard Pak
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We were at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual conference in San Antonio.  This post is merely here to collect our six-part posts on various talks.  These only scratch the surface of what was presented.

Part 1:  The Mechanical Bull
Part 2:  Eliciting knowledge structures
Part 3:  Health, Internet, and ROBOTS!
Part 4:  Hearing and understanding
Part 5:  Rich gets lost (Automation/Trust)
Part 6:  More [...]

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Graph extravaganza: Who are our “users”?

by Richard Pak
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It’s Friday, so here are some interesting visitor statistics of the blog (based on the last 1580 visitors).  I meant to do this on our two year anniversary (two months ago) but better late than never.
First, where are our visitors coming from?  Primarily in the U.S. and Europe with some visits from China.
Zooming in on the U.S. and Europe:
Next, what [...]

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Consequences of Mobile Phone Usability…big consequences

by Richard Pak
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Time.com is reporting that part of the economic recession may have been caused by Warren Buffet not being able to check his voice mail:
as Buffett was rushing out to a social engagement in Edmonton, Alberta, he got a call from Bob Diamond, the head of Barclays Capital…[ed. Diamond was creating a plan to save an investment bank and needed money [...]

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When Users Complain: Blackboard

by Anne McLaughlin
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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” with top executives of Blackboard here Wednesday at the company’s annual conference, college officials expressed frustration with many of the system’s fundamental characteristics. At times, the meeting seemed [...]

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Time.com article on Anne’s research with Games & Aging

by Richard Pak
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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 the National Science Foundation to study using games to moderate cognitive decline in older adults.
Their plan is to study what parts of games might help cognitive performance and [...]

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The Tactile Thinkpad: More Laptop Redesign from Lenovo

by Anne McLaughlin
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I posted earlier on the innovative data collection Lenovo did for a keyboard redesign. A new post on DesignMatters details the design and user testing of a new touch pad using tactile feedback.
Designers must often work within constraints induced by other portions of their product. In this case, the touchpad had to be flush with the hand rest of the [...]

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Behind the scenes look at “Playtesting” games

by Richard Pak
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Our friend Tim Nichols (of Microsoft Game Studio) was recently featured in a video explaining how games get tested for usability.  See the embedded video for a look behind the scenes:
Have you ever been playing a game and thought to yourself, “I just wish I could speak with the developers and let them know that this part of the game could be [...]

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Smartphones as Event-based Prospective Memory Aids

by Richard Pak
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The calendar functions of devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and  smartphones have always been types of time-based prospective memory aids.  An item to be remembered in the future (e.g., go to meeting at 4 pm) is entered into the calendar and when that time arrives we are reminded with a notification or alarm (hence the term time-based).
Prospective memory [...]

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Electric Scooters and their Warnings: A Guest Post by Kim Wolfinbarger

by Anne McLaughlin
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Electric shopping carts are common in large grocery stores. Essential for users with mobility impairments, they are also helpful for pregnant women, elderly shoppers, and other who have trouble walking long distances.
A few months ago, my grandfather overturned such a cart in a parking lot and broke his hip. Interested in what might have caused the accident, I examined a [...]

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Map Information Visualizations = HOT!

by Anne McLaughlin
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I‘ve noticed a trend in the newsworld/blogworld recently. Everyone wants to represent everything on a map. Some of these are genius, others make me wonder “why bother?” I collected some of each for this post… but I warn you, once you notice this pattern you’ll start seeing it multiple times per day.
Job loss from Slate.com: (Usability note: good luck mousing-over [...]

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Dashboards meet the 21st century

by Richard Pak
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Reader Darin Ellis sends along this news item from MSNBC about the future of car dashboards (hint: analog is out, glass screens are in).  There is a great quote in the article from the visualization designer of Chrysler:
A lot of usability studies need to be done. Designing these is not a no-brainer.
In addition to this article, here are some other [...]

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