Human Factors

Definition

Human factors refer to the physical, social, and psychological characteristics of people that influence their behavior and interactions with products, systems, and environments.

Analogy

Think of human factors like the settings on your phone. Just as you can adjust the brightness or volume to suit your preferences, designers use knowledge about human factors to create products or systems that are tailored to how people see, hear, think, move and react.

Related terms

Ergonomics: The study of how equipment and furniture can be arranged in order that people can do work or other activities more efficiently and comfortably.

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI): A field of research focused on the interfaces between humans and computers. It involves designing computer technology that is both usable by and accessible to a wide variety of users.

Cognitive Ergonomics: This is a discipline concerned with mental processes like perception, memory, reasoning which are involved in interactions among humans and other elements of a system.