Human Factors & Ergonomics

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Ergonomics is the study of human performance and its application to the design of technological systems. The goal of this activity is to enhance productivity, safety, convenience and quality of life. Example topics include models and theories of human performance, design and analytical methodology, human-computer interface issues, environmental and work design, and physical and mental workload assessment. The following table contains the general categories of ergonomics also known as human factors and related areas for each category.


Human factors & Ergonomics Areas
Category
Related Areas
Physical ergonomics Anthropometrics, Biomechanics, Health & safety
Cognitive ergonomics Human performance theory, Engineering psychology, & Behavioral decision theory
Macroergonomics Systems theory, Organizational psychology


A variety of professional societies exists that are directly or indirectly related to human factors & ergonomics. This field is definately multidisciplinary, so the fact that only a few of the groups in existance actually refer specifically to human factors or ergonomics. Here are some samples.

A sampling of related societies
. . . follow this link for more relevant societies links . . .
Human Factors & Ergonomics Society American Psychological Association
International Ergonomics Association International Society of Biomechanics
Society for Information Display The Ergonomics Society


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At least 30 schools throughout the country (as well as in other countries) exist where one can become educated in these fields. Depending upon one's interest, a particular school may be more appropriate than another - a good tip: check the web to find out background information about the program, corporate support, faculty, and research and publications; applications can often be requested on-line as well! Here are some examples of the many fine schools.

A sampling of Academic Programs
. . . follow this link to see the Graduate Directory put out by HFES . . .
VPI
Human Factors Engineering Center
University of Michigan's
U
The North Carolina
NCSU
Ergonomics Resource Center
Cornell
in the Department of Design & Environmental Analysis
University of Minnesota's
U of Minn
Human Factors Research Laboratory

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Other useful human factors & ergonomics sites and related links

Guidelines & Design Documents The FAA Human FactorsDesign Guide. A User-friendly Computer Workstation Ergonomics Checklist DoD Military Standards - 1472D Human Engineering Design Criteria for Military Systems Equipment and Facilities Do It By Design: An Introduction to Human Factors in Medical Devices
Journals & literature resources Applied Ergonomics Ergonomics Human Factors
Newsgroups The SIGCHI Bulletin Comp.human-factors FAQ TRDEV-L Listserv Training and Development home page
a few more . . . comp.cog-eng
a Coginitive Engineering on HCI		 comp.human-factors
the main human factors newsgroup		 sci.cognitive
oriented toward cognitive psychology		 Spine-health.com (http://www.spine-health.com) - a comprehensive, multi-specialty, peer-reviewed website for patients with back pain and interest in a more ergonomic work place environment

Also see the following spine articles:
-Choosing the right ergonomic office chair
-Back support in office chairs

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List Serves

To subscribe, click on the link to email a listserver. Type the words subscribe, list name, your name. Do not put anything else in the body of the letter or in the subject area. This will be an automatic command listserv rather than the address you use to actually talk to the group. The listserver will forward your request to the correct server and you will get a confirmation Email. For example:

TO: HUMFAC-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
MESSAGE: subscribe HUMFAC-L Jane Taylor

Note that you will get a different address to actually mail information that gets distributed to the group. Listserv is an automatic computer generated command recognition address. If you have a problem just write HELP in the body of the message.

ACM
the American Computing Machinery group of SIGCHI 		OHFNEWS
the Organization and Human Factors News mail list		 SMALLHCI
the Small Company HCI mail list		 SOREHAND
the RSI and CTS mail list.
COMPUTER-TRAINING
a digest from the Masie Institute and Simplot Decision Support Center		 IDFORUM
a discussion list for issues related to industrial design		 STUDENTS.CHI
for students of HCI 		HUMFAC-L
Human Factors Ergonomics Society Student Members

most of this information was taken from Usernomics

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