ABSTRACT

People may appear, to a design engineer, to have a certain general communality in terms of basic traits, capabilities, aspirations, and social behavior. The so-called average person may vary somewhat in appearance and have some distinguishing features, but such persons are all basically human, can learn, adapt, adjust, understand instructions, follow the prescribed rules of the road or occupation, and perform work procedures as expected. The basic adaptability of humans may suggest that the differences can be ignored or marginalized, since they can adapt, to some degree, to almost any product, process, or system. Perhaps this overestimation of human capability and lack of meaningful consideration of individual differences is a prime cause of undesired human error.