Lars-Ola Bligård

To Develop Viable Human Factors Engineering Methods for Improved Industrial Use

Human factors engineering methodology is important for design of complex systems, such as control rooms and distributed control systems. Available methodologies are however seldom adapted to industrial needs, which limits the use of the existing human factors engineering research base. In this paper we argue that human factors engineering methods have to be developed and adapted to the engineer working under industrial project constraints. Otherwise human factors engineering is unlikely to achieve a broad industrial impact. The paper suggests how the industrial viability of methods can be improved by applying a use centered approach to method development.

Enhanced cognitive walkthrough: development of the cognitive walkthrough method to better predict, identify, and present usability problems

To avoid use errors when handling medical equipment, it is important to develop products with a high degree of usability. This can be achieved by performing usability evaluations in the product development process to detect and mitigate potential usability problems. A commonly used method is cognitive walkthrough (CW), but this method shows three weaknesses: poor high-level perspective, insufficient categorisation of detected usability problems, and difficulties in overviewing the analytical results. This paper presents a further development of CW with the aim of overcoming its weaknesses. The new method is called enhanced cognitive walkthrough (ECW). ECW is a proactive analytical method for analysis of potential usability problems. The ECW method has been employed to evaluate user interface designs of medical equipment such as home-care ventilators, infusion pumps, dialysis machines, and insulin pumps. The method has proved capable of identifying several potential use problems in designs.

ACD³ - Utvecklingsprocessen ur ett människa-maskinperspektiv

ACD3-processen ar ett nyutvecklat ramverk for utvecklingsarbete som synliggor designbesluten genom en tydlig struktur, men som tillater flexibilitet for att inte hamma nyskapande och innovation. ACD3-processen stodjer en vaxelverkan mellan designarbete och kravsattning och lyfter fram aktivitetens och anvandningens roll for utformningen. ACD3-processen bygger pa vedertagna teorier och processer inom design, produktutveckling och human factors, men kombinerar ihop dem pa ett samstammigt satt for att battre stodja utvecklingsarbetet. ACD³ ar en forkortning av AktivitetsCentrerad Design, och 3:an representerar de tre dimensioner som bygger upp processen: designnivaer, designperspektiv och designaktiviteter. Boken riktar sig bade till studenter och till yrkesverksamma ingenjorer och designers.

An analytical approach for predicting and identifying use error and usability problem

In health care, the use of technical equipment plays a central part. To achieve high patient safety and efficient use, it is important to avoid use errors and usability problems when handling the medical equipment. This can be achieved by performing different types of usability evaluations on prototypes during the product development process of medical equipment. This paper describes an analytical approach for predicting and identifying use error and usability problems. The approach consists of four phases; (1) Definition of Evaluation, (2) System Description, (3) Interaction Analysis, and (4) Result Compilation and Reflection. The approach is based on the methods Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA), Enhanced Cognitive Walkthrough (ECW) and Predictive Use Error Analysis (PUEA).

Adoption of ergonomic features in a new reach truck cabin design – a usability study

The task of handling reach trucks frequently involves poor working postures. The location of the steering wheel in most reach trucks is in front of the operator which requires the drivers to bend forward and stretch their hands for holding onto the steering wheel. To overcome visibility restrictions, this posture is aggravated by twisting and bending their torso sideways. This paper presents a usability study which was conducted to compare adoption of ergonomic features in a new reach truck cabin with the way they were intended to be employed for improving physical working conditions. Participants drove the reach truck on a test track performing tasks of varying complexity. Video recordings were utilized to facilitate the observations. The results indicate that improved ergonomics features of the reach truck are not used as intended. The test subjects instead adopted postures that they were accustomed to when driving common reach trucks. The possible contributing factors to this posture regression are discussed. The procedure used in this study is recommended for the companies to determine the effectiveness and adoption of ergonomics solutions.

Ergonomic evaluation of long-shafted tools used in horse stables: the effects of shaft length variation and work technique on working posture

This study examined the physical demands involved in manual manure handling in horse stables when using two different long-shafted work tools, a shavings fork and a manure fork, and investigated how variations in shaft length affected the physical workloads of the user. The methods used were generic task specification (GTS) and the Jack human simulation system (JACK). In general, adding 10 cm to the 125 cm length of the existing manure fork shaft gave the highest reduction in load on the back, especially regarding compression forces, irrespective of body height, sub-task and work technique. Simulations with the shavings fork (length 150 cm) showed that correcting user work technique considerably reduced the load on the back. Thus, it is important to consider both the shaft length of a tool and the work technique when attempting to reduce the physical work load for users.

Developers as Users: Exploring the Experiences of Using a New Theoretical Method for Usability Assessment

There is a need for appropriate evaluation methods to efficiently identify and counteract usability issues early in the development process. The aim of this study was to investigate how product developers assessed a new theoretical method for identifying usability problems and use errors. Two cases where the method had been applied were selected and the users of the method in them were asked to fill in a questionnaire and were then interviewed about their experiences of using the method. Overall, the participants (students and professionals) found the methods useful and their outcome trustworthy. At the same time, the methods were assessed as difficult to learn and as cumbersome and tedious to use. Nevertheless, both students and professionals thought that the methods would be useful in future development work. Suggestions for further improvement included provision of further instructions, for example, on how to adapt the methods and development of an IT-support tool.

Using Usability to Measure Interaction in Final Assembly

Although interaction has been investigated from a number of different areas no consensus has been made regarding what variables that should be measured. Therefore it is hard to predict system performance, where especially in final assembly, a well functioning interaction between humans and automation is crucial in order to maintain production quality. This also makes it hard to suggest improvements. By combining concepts of usability, an approach was suggested were measurable variables were structured. The approach was tested in an experiment and it was suggested that the approach could be used to measure effectiveness, efficiency and operator satisfaction.

Developing User-Friendly Interfaces for Medical Devices

Abstract Usability is an important aspect in medical device design. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of Enhanced Cognitive Walkthrough (ECW) and Hierarchical Task Analysis with Interaction (HTA-I) in the design of two new user interface concepts for infusion pumps. Usability tests showed that the new concepts had greater usability than another user interface designed with a Human Factors Approach. Using ECW in the existing systems analysis means that more latent errors were found than with CW. HTA-I is a useful tool when defining function structures in the design stage where no physical prototype exists.

HMI of autonomous vehicles - more than meets the eye

Cars are becoming increasingly automated and intelligent and will soon be able to drive on their own. The new intelligent technology will mean that communication between driver and vehicle will and must change. However, much of the research in autonomous vehicle interaction still revolves around the traditional GU interfaces and modes. To open up the full potential of interactive possibilities and allow for the creation of interfaces that can enable effective and satisfactory communication between driver and vehicle, this paper will present and argue for a holistic framework to aid analysis and design of human – vehicle interaction. The framework is based on four types of interactive surfaces. The first is the explicitly designed interfaces of today, the second is the interior design of the vehicle as a whole, the third is the implicit information included in the vehicle’s movement pattern, and the fourth is the interactive technology brought into the vehicle. The framework focuses on the interaction related to the operation of the vehicle (not in-car entertainment) and on the vehicle information output.