ABSTRACT
A human factors problem generally leads to errors and possibly decreases safety or efficiency. By applying human factors design principles, evaluative techniques, and methods, we can create more efficient and safe tools, tasks, and environments that users find pleasing and that reduce errors and often increase safety. For someone studying psychology, human factors is an area of applied psychology in which psychological science, theory, and knowledge are used to design the environment to fit the limits and capabilities of the human users. Human factors apply our understanding of cognition, memory, and information processing to the design of environments to reduce these potential information processing errors and enhance performance. Human factors also has an engineering focus that emphasizes the design of tools, equipment, or processes that function as users expect them to function; achieves the desired outcomes; and can interact with related tools, equipment, or processes.
