ABSTRACT
This chapter will introduce you to different elements of experimental or research design that should be considered when conducting a study with human participants. There are a number of reasons why you might want to undertake a Human Factors study, including; to test or find out if a hypothesis (research question) can be supported (or not), to explore the relationship between different variables, to develop or validate models, and to evaluate features of design from single interfaces or products through to whole systems. Whether you are conducting a naturalistic observational study in a ‘field’ setting or a very controlled high-fidelity simulator experiment, the same factors will need to be considered and their choices justified (Section 2). Human Factors research primarily involves human participants and seeks to assess at least one component of cognitive or physical/biomechanical behaviour or performance in complex systems. Section 3 will explain what we mean when we talk about user-centred design, why it is important and how you can ensure you are implementing it in your design processes. Finally, Section 4 will provide a brief introduction to research ethics, why they are important and how you can ensure you are conducting ethical research.
