Human Factors In Computer Systems

It is becoming obvious to more and more people that the tremendous advances in the computer industry in the past decades are heralding a revolution at least as profound as the industrial revolution. Hardware costs have plummeted and now, the major challenge facing the computer industry is making computers that are easy to learn and easy to use. The question is: how can we make computer systems with good human factors? While much is known about the physical aspects of human factors, relatively little is known about how to write software to maximize its usability. Given the current state of knowledge, it would be premature to claim that we even know "the" best way to study the problem of software human factors. In this book, therefore, a number of different approaches to various related problems are discussed.

When interaction between a person and a machine is well designed, using the machine is natural. Many computer systems are confusing, annoying, or ineffective. Many users have encountered computer systems that are hard to understand, and harder to use. Human factors is the study of how people and machines interact, and a technology for creating designs that work well in human terms. Human factors engineers are concerned with designing safer, more productive, easier-to-use equipment, based on broadly conceived thorough analysis of the problem. Ease of learning, ease of use, reliability and robustness, tailoring, and productivity are the guiding principles, and this text addresses these in the order in which they can be used when creating a design.

Motivation for a psychological approach; Research methods; Programming as human performance; Programming style; Software quality evaluation; Team organizations and group processes; Database systems and data models; Database query and manipulation languages; Natural language; Interactive interface issues; Designing interactive systems.

This Handbook is concerned with principles of human factors engineering for design of the human-computer interface. It has both academic and practical purposes; it summarizes the research and provides recommendations for how the information can be used by designers of computer systems. The articles are written primarily for the professional from another discipline who is seeking an understanding of human-computer interaction, and secondarily as a reference book for the professional in the area, and should particularly serve the following: computer scientists, human factors engineers, designers and design engineers, cognitive scientists and experimental psychologists, systems engineers, managers and executives working with systems development. The work consists of 52 chapters by 73 authors and is organized into seven sections. In the first section, the cognitive and information-processing aspects of HCI are summarized. The following group of papers deals with design principles for software and hardware. The third section is devoted to differences in performance between different users, and computer-aided training and principles for design of effective manuals. The next part presents important applications: text editors and systems for information retrieval, as well as issues in computer-aided engineering, drawing and design, and robotics. The fifth section introduces methods for designing the user interface. The following section examines those issues in the AI field that are currently of greatest interest to designers and human factors specialists, including such problems as natural language interface and methods for knowledge acquisition. The last section includes social aspects in computer usage, the impact on work organizations and work at home.

Based on an extensive literature survey, this document presents a description and critical analysis of the state of the art in the area of human factors in computer systems. This review is concerned both with the status of human factors research in the area of user computer interaction and with the current state of user-computer interaction technology and practices. The primary purpose of the review is to determine whether research and practice in this area have evolved sufficiently to support the development of a human factors guide to computer system design. It is concluded that insufficient data exist for the development of a 'quantitative reference handbook' in this area, but that a 'human factors design guide' -- which discusses issues, alternatives, and methods in the context of the design process -- is both feasible and needed. (Author).

Human Factors in System Design, Development, and Testing describes engineering system design as a behavioral process, a process which raises questions the designer must answer. It focuses on the concepts underlying the design process, culminating in a behavioral theory of the design process. Special effort has been made to depict human facto

Human factors is one of the critical issues in Information Technology, as industry realizes the need to change from technology-oriented goals to meet the demands of computer users. Human factors can help to improve Informatics Usability for real people, and to reduce the huge people-costs of human machine interactions.

This study of the interaction among people, computers and their work environment outlines information systems and work environments that help make people more productive and satisfied with their work life. It is centred around the relationships between user interface design and human performance.