technology

I see a very smudgey future…

March 15, 2011

As the YouTube commenter in the video noted: BUY STOCK IN WINDEX NOW!!! These concept videos are meant to show how technologies that do not yet exist could be used. Just like concept cars, they show what is possible now but hint at the not-to-distant-future (at least for the company who made the videos). Here are some more: Knowledge Navigator [...]

Read the full article →

Automakers: Don’t skimp on the interface!

February 27, 2011
Thumbnail image for Automakers: Don’t skimp on the interface!

A very angry but insightful comment about the vehicle electronic interface of the 2011 Buick Regal from an automotive journalist: Non touchscreen touchscreen: The GM navigation system and the graphics for it are designed with a touchscreen in mind — when entering in a destination, there is a recreation of a keyboard that allows you to punch in your letters and [...]

Read the full article →

Apple, UCD, and Innovation – A Guest Post by Travis Bowles

February 25, 2011
Thumbnail image for Apple, UCD, and Innovation – A Guest Post by Travis Bowles

This guest post is in response to the article User-Led Innovation Can’t Create Breakthroughs: Just ask Apple and IKEA at fastcodesign.com From the article: One evening, well into the night, we asked some of our friends on the Apple design team about their view of user-centric design. Their answer? “It’s all bullshit and hot air created to sell consulting projects and [...]

Read the full article →

Profiles in Human Factors: Dr. Julian Sanchez, Medtronic

January 25, 2011
Thumbnail image for Profiles in Human Factors: Dr. Julian Sanchez, Medtronic

This post is the first in our new series of human factors career profiles. Dr. Julian Sanchez  was kind enough to answer my questions about his job and the journey he took to get there. Dr. Sanchez received his Ph.D. in psychology from the Georgia Institute of Technology and has worked in a variety of settings, from agricultural technology at Deere [...]

Read the full article →

Age-related differences in the use of the Internet

December 16, 2010

One of my major research interests is in how people of all ages, especially older adults (those over age 65) use the Internet (shameless plug for our new book on Designing Displays for Older Adults).  The Pew Internet & American Life Project recent came out with a new survey of Internet usage across the age groups. A counter-intuitive finding is [...]

Read the full article →

Microsoft’s Kinect Game Controller

October 26, 2010
Thumbnail image for Microsoft’s Kinect Game Controller

Our friend Tim Nichols was recently featured in a write up in the New York Times about his work with Kinect, Microsoft’s new game controller technology.  He’s a games researcher at Microsoft Game Studio.  Here is what he says about it: “I can’t tell you how many times I have seen people try and do the moonwalk,” says Mr. Nichols, [...]

Read the full article →

Designing Displays for Older Adults: Chapter 1 (excerpt)

August 18, 2010

Below is the preface and excerpt of Chapter 1 from our forthcoming book.  The book is available where fine books are sold or directly from our publisher CRC Press.  Until January 31, 2011, you can get 20% off the cover price when you purchase directly from CRC Press using this link and this code: 810DE. Preface This book is focused on the [...]

Read the full article →

The Zero-Fatality Car

August 6, 2010
Thumbnail image for The Zero-Fatality Car

I ran across this fascinating article from ComputerWorld on Volvo’s goal of creating a zero fatality car by 2020. As I read it, a number of human factors issues jumped out at me, but the focus is almost entirely on engineering issues. This does not mean Volvo will ignore the human factor. After all, I’ve previously posted on their well-done [...]

Read the full article →

Almost Here: Designing Displays for Older Adults

July 20, 2010
Thumbnail image for Almost Here: Designing Displays for Older Adults

After a long process and over a year of work, Anne’s and my book on user interface design for older adults is almost available!  The cover of our book has been finalized (shown below).  The book will be released September 21st, 2010 and will be available where fine books are sold or directly from our publisher CRC Press. We’ll give [...]

Read the full article →

iPad is everything the Kindle isn’t (for my use cases)

May 25, 2010
Thumbnail image for iPad is everything the Kindle isn’t (for my use cases)

I acquired an Apple iPad a few weeks ago and am very impressed with it. Just as background, i’m a PC person (a desktop at work, home, and a Fujitsu P1620 ultramobile tablet, all running Windows 7).  My portable computer weighs about 2.5 lbs but the iPad is a full pound lighter and the battery lasts about 10 hours. Less [...]

Read the full article →

Facebook and Privacy: A Guest Post by Kelly Caine

May 8, 2010
Thumbnail image for 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, my friend Yohann summarized the issue: I don’t feel that I am in control of the information I share on Facebook, and of the [...]

Read the full article →

Trust & Electronic Medical Records

April 15, 2010
Thumbnail image for Trust & Electronic Medical Records

The Consumerist recently posted on something we haven’t tackled in our posts on electronic medical records: patient trust and privacy. The California HealthCare Foundation recently released the results of a survey on electronic medical records and consumer behavior. The survey found that 15% of people would hide things from their doctor if the medical record system shared anonymous data with [...]

Read the full article →

Stirring the pot… with a saw

March 22, 2010

If you’ve seen video of the SawStop, you remember it. A table saw spinning at full power that can stop and drop away if it comes in contact with a finger. If you haven’t seen the video, I suggest a watch. Clearly, the SawStop comes in above warnings in the hierarchy of hazards. Design out (hard to do with a [...]

Read the full article →

Doctors Visits Decrease With Electronic Health Records/E-mail

March 12, 2010
Thumbnail image for Doctors Visits Decrease With Electronic Health Records/E-mail

A study that show that the use of electronic health records (with built-in secure messaging capabilities) can reduce the number of office visits for patients that do not need them.  Office visits are the most expensive form of health care delivery (as noted by the NYT).  No mention of any usability issues, however. Information about KP HealthConnect (the EHR examined [...]

Read the full article →

Complex Clickers in Class

March 8, 2010
Thumbnail image for Complex Clickers in Class

I will be teaching general psychology to a large undergraduate class this Fall.  I had planned on using the “Clicker” to encourage interaction with students (link to company that makes them, wikipedia page that describes them).  They are essentially remote controls that allow the instructor to record votes from students.  For example, I could present a multiple choice question to [...]

Read the full article →

Human Factors Blog @ SXSW

March 4, 2010
Thumbnail image for 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 With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: The Future of Video Games. Here is a description: Video games are more popular than ever, and [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →