Human
Factors Methods for Design: Making Systems
Human-Centred
by Christopher
P Nemeth
CRC Press, Cambridge UK, 2004
396 pp. Trade, $140.00
ISBN: 0-4152-9798-2.
Reviewed by John
Knight
User-Lab
Birmingham Institute of Art and Design
John.knight@uce.ac.uk
This book
comes from the same stable as Patrick
Jordan's Pleasurable Products.
Other publications in the series include
Jordans Introduction to Usability
and Human Factors in Product Design
with William Green. With this pedigree,
this new volume is unlikely to disappoint,
and it doesn't. It looks and feels trustworthy
and complete. It 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. It is clearly aimed
at practitioners and should act as single
point of reference. Indeed the introduction
suggests that its writing came from 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 take up of technology and the problems
with design products and user-interfaces.
Human Factors is 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
and failure and reliability rather than
experiential use qualities. As such, it
is a good counterbalance to the current
vogue of emotional design. Applications
centre on systems and 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.
We are taken through the history of human
factors design, and this is contextualised
by a process cycle that dovetails with
business needs and the product lifecycle.
Given the ergonomics 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 three looks at problem solving.
Unusually given the practitioner focus
it deals with Montaigne and sensual experience
and tackles philosophical issues in an
accessible and businesslike manner. Chapter
Four looks at products and innovation.
Providing an overview of process that
integrates ideation and the product lifecycle
within a typical user-centred design framework.
Chapter Five 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 organised under
six sections. The first concerns analytical
methods. Next design guidance is dealt
with. 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 analysing 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 cost benefits, useful organisational
issues are examined. Then, Nemeth 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 the book is its understandable
descriptions of methods. These provide
valuable professional guidance and makes
Human Factors Methods for Design: Making
Systems Human-Centred an invaluable
reference work.