From the category archives:

transportation

Redesigning Toyota’s Keyless Ignition System

by Richard Pak
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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 report that Toyota is considering redesigning the system so that instead of requiring a single 3-second press to shut off the engine, it now requires 3 consecutive [...]

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Keyless Ignition in Emergencies: Do you know what to do?

by Richard Pak
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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 the way they currently do things (in this case, what people know about ignition systems and how they start their cars).  Second, like the story about the alarms, it also clearly illustrates [...]

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Pssssst! Free occupational safety data!

by Anne McLaughlin
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Do you love databases? Especially if you are interested in safety, there are a number of carefully archived databases of events out there. A couple of years ago, I found one of these while trying to answer the question “What kinds of human factors interventions would be most increase agricultural safety?” Six months of coding later, I had some [...]

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“Replicants are like any other machine – they’re either a benefit or a hazard. If they’re a benefit, it’s not my problem.”

by Richard Pak

Electric cars are utterly silent making them hazardous when they sneak up on you at low speeds.  Nissan is thinking about having their Leaf electric car emit the whine reminiscent of the flying cars in Bladerunner.  It’s one of my favorite movies so I approve!
“We decided that if we’re going to do this, if we have to make sound, then [...]

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HF/Usability Hodgepodge

by Richard Pak

Things too small for their own post but interesting nonetheless…it’s a hodgepodge, a mélange, a potpourri!

Stay in touch with those who don’t have or want a computer (via Gadgeteer)
“upgrading customer usability without breaking the bank” (via UXforward)
If Craigslist got a makeover, what might it look like? (Wired)
Men and women use car navigation systems differently (GPSworld)

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Ford’s Use of Personas in Design

by Richard Pak
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This NYT article delves into the use of personas at Ford Motor Company.  The article is written to imply that the use of personas (or archetypes as they call it) is novel.  It also delves uncomfortably and unnecessarily into Jungian psychology (psychological archetypes, eh?).
But many designers and user experience people have been using personas for quite a while.  The article [...]

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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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Emergency Checklists and Aviation

by Anne McLaughlin

The recent water landing into the Hudson is still being investigated. This AP article focuses on whether flight attendants were trained not to open the back door of the plane during a water landing, but the most interesting bit comes at the end:
Another concern is whether the FAA and airlines need to revise emergency procedures for pilots in the event [...]

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Accidental Activation Activates Fighter Jet Escort

by Anne McLaughlin

Apparently there is a particular communication channel airlines use when they have been hijacked. This afternoon, an American Airlines flight was escorted by fighter jets to Miami when the channel was set on a flight from Puerto Rico.
This interface error sounds expensive. Can we assume the flight crew did not know they were using this frequency?

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Human Factors Potpourri (again)

by Richard Pak

Here are some more human factors-related items that have crossed my blog reader:

Twitter is hot!  Oprah recently twittered on her show and apparently fell victim to a usability problem:  the update button was non-obvious so she never posted her tweet (Touch usability)
Fellow HFE blog Real World Usability will be posting updates of the Ergonomics Society Conference via Twitter
A night at [...]

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User Perception of Automobile Brands

by Anne McLaughlin

I often hear people in HF say their users “don’t always know what they want” or that users want something that isn’t good for them. (One example might be a touch screen when a touch screen is not appropriate.) Consumer Reports lists the top automobile models by perception of a brand in certain categories.
The categories they used were:

safety
quality
value
performance
environmental friendliness
design
technological [...]

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Interface aid for hyper-milers

by Anne McLaughlin
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I have at least one friend who admits to “hyper miling,” or watching the MPG gauge at all times and trying to keep his average as high as possible. In one way I find this to be a fascinating task that one could use to study multiple-cue learning, pattern recognition, or adoption of superstitious behavior. (After all, was it kicking [...]

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Smart Cars

by Anne McLaughlin

Recently, an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) hit the news in Europe. I’ve always been interested in advanced navigation systems (and their problems), so I check in on some of the research programs occasionally. After all, individual differences from culture to aging all affect how we use navigation systems.
The original article I mentioned briefly addresses the errors these systems may [...]

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Inner and Outer Outed

by Anne McLaughlin

Redesigned Beltline signs to drop ‘Inner’ and ‘Outer’
RALEIGH – No more “Inner” and “Outer” for Raleigh’s Beltline. Soon it will be Interstate 40 and Interstate 440, east and west.
The state Department of Transportation is about to make good on a long-standing promise to get rid of the Inner Beltline and Outer Beltline signs that get lots of motorists [...]

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Life imitates art (Nissan GT-R)

by Richard Pak

The new Nissan GT-R is a sports car that’s about to be released in the United States. The car has been a popular model in the Playstation game Grand Turismo. Apparently, the car’s striking information displays (the real car, not the game car) were designed by the creators of the Grand Turismo series (Polyphony Digital/Sony Computer Entertainment). [...]

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