Human Factors Methods for Design: Making Systems Human-Centred (review)

This book comes from the same stable as Patrick Jordan's Pleasurable Products. Other publications in the series include Jordan's Introduction to Usability and Human Factors in Product Design with William Green. With this pedigree, this new volume is unlikely to disappoint, and it does not. It looks and feels trustworthy and complete, and is overwhelmingly practical as well as erudite when it needs to be.

The book has three parts. The first describes the practice of human factors. The second offers a compendium of methods. The last part looks at professional issues and applications. The book is clearly aimed at practitioners and should act as a single point of reference. Indeed, the introduction suggests that the book was written in response to the lack of such work. It is aimed at the design disciplines and will have relevance to everyone from architects to software engineers. For the more "designerly," it may be a bit dry, and there are few illustrations to break up the text. However, designers would be well advised to read it.

The book begins by looking at the barriers to the adoption of technology and the problems with design products and user interfaces. Human factors are proposed as a remedy to the intractable problems of interface design and improving the user experience. The focus is on traditional ergonomic concerns of comfort, performance, failure and reliability rather than experiential use qualities. As such, it is a good counterbalance to the current vogue of emotional design. Applications center on systems, especially those pertaining to activity and work. The firm ergonomics background is also evident in the focus on evaluation and standards and the process the author proposes that is built on solid requirements.

The text goes through the history of human factors design, and this is contextualized by a process cycle that dovetails with business needs and the product lifecycle. Given the ergonomic focus, it is understandable that the first section tackles human abilities and limits, memory and physiology and the influence of the external environment, including temperature. Motivation and problem solving are also considered and are firmly rooted in a cognitive perspective.

Chapter 3 looks at problem solving. Unusually so, given the practitioner focus, it deals with Montaigne and sensual experience and tackles philosophical issues in an accessible and businesslike manner. Chapter 4 looks at products and innovation, providing an overview of process that integrates ideation and the product lifecycle within a typical user-centered design framework. Chapter 5 takes an overview of the discipline and maps out its application in industry. The first sections pave the way for the main content. Focusing on methods, it will probably be of most interest to practitioners.

In just under 200 pages, Nemeth covers 36 methods. These are organized in six sections. The first concerns analytical methods, and the next deals with design guidance. Evaluation methods are then described, followed by a useful chapter on surveys, interviews and questionnaires. The final chapters concern usability assessment and controlled studies.

Each method is described in terms of what it does. The preparation required is then outlined, as well as the necessary materials, equipment and environment. In addition, easy-to-follow procedures and methods for analyzing results are provided. Short examples are given to bring the methods to life. The methods are also usefully cross-referenced. Many will be familiar to practitioners, but not all, and those relating to requirements and problem definition are particularly welcome.

The final section of the book considers the business side of human factors. Beginning with the costs and benefits, useful organizational issues are examined. Nemeth then looks at communications, and the book concludes with case studies from a wide range of projects, from web sites to a bus workstation.

This is a useful practitioner's book, clearly grounded in industry practice with an eye on current research and philosophical groundwork. At nearly 400 pages, it is comprehensive without any padding. The core of...