SystemiQ can support your project’s risk management and assurance in:
Human Factors
Ergonomics
Accessibility
SystemiQ’s consultants are specialists in organisational psychology, cognitive ergonomics, physical ergonomics and anthropometry. We have experience in applying human factors science and standards to large-scale engineering projects, integrated within a systems engineering framework.
SystemiQ helps large-scale projects to understand their users and to design systems that optimise human-system performance, and meet Human Factors requirements and standards. This involves applying scientific knowledge and principles, along with relevant standards and legislation, to support engineering activities throughout the project’s life cycle. The key to efficient and cost-effective HF integration in major projects is to consider Human Factors as early as possible in the project. Talk to us about how we can support your systems engineering team to achieve efficient and effective HF integration and assurance.
Contact us to discuss your project’s human factors integration needs
The Human Factors Approach
Step 1: Understand your users
- Identify user populations
- Identify user physical characteristics and capabilities
- Identify user cognitive characteristics and capabilities
Humans are a component of all systems, even highly automated systems. People may be involved in designing, building, operating, maintaining, managing, and providing oversight for a system. Our Human Factors Systems Engineering process allows you to understand how human characteristics influence interactions with your system, to ensure the system can perform to its highest potential.
Step 2: Know your context
- Identify human system interfaces
- Identify the goals and functions of the human roles within the system
- Identify the context within which people will interact with the system
Step 3: Define Requirements
- Identify relevant human factors standards/guidelines.
- Develop human factors requirements to ensure that the system
- Is easily operated by all users
- Can be easily operated in normal, degraded and emergency conditions
- Can be easily operated in all relevant environments and contexts
- Is human error-tolerant
We develop measurable and traceable human factors requirements to ensure that the user’s needs are met within the scope of the project. We help to ensure that the system will support and encourage effective human performance. This human-centred design approach leads to the development of a system that supports users to achieve their best performance while also providing efficiency and safety gains for the operation. The identification and application of relevant HF standards help the project to achieve compliance outcomes.
Step 4: Human Factors Documentation
- Human Factors Requirements
- Human Factors Issues Log
- Human Factors Integration Plan
- Human Factors Assurance Reports
Our approach to human factors support on major projects is to integrate as much as possible with broader project activities and documentation. For example, the human factors assurance reporting may be integrated within broader Safety Assurance Reports, rather than a standalone document, and HF-related risks are integrated within the project hazard log and/or safety risk register. We meticulously document all human factors activities to ensure traceability, and evidence that each human factors requirement is met, in the most efficient manner possible.
Step 5: Human Engineering Assessments and User Testing Activities
- Develop user profiles and select representative participants
- Develop user testing procedures based on psychological research principles
- User testing studies completed by consultants trained in scientific methods and analysis
We use robust processes and methods such as, task analysis, Anthropometric Assessment, Human Performance Assessment, Workload analysis, usability reviews, and human error assessments, to understand how humans will interact with your system.
We document measurements of user reactions, responses, decision-making processes, motivations, errors and performance. This detailed descriptive data allows us to pinpoint the areas of system design that are most impacting user and system performance. This high-quality and objective data can be used to assess whether human factors requirements have been met and make informed decisions regarding system design.
Step 6: Iterate
- Update user profiles
- Update Human Factors Requirements
- Update Human Factors Documentation
As part of the Systems Engineering Process, we work with you to iteratively improve the system design, to meet requirements and achieve compliance. Our scrupulous documentation helps us to be as efficient as possible when completing human factors activities throughout the project. We not only ensure that your project meets the needs of users in the most efficient and effective manner possible, but we also ensure that you have the documentation and evidence to underpin important design decisions and compliance requirements.
Contact SystemiQ to discuss how we can develop a human factors program that is integrated seamlessly within your project’s lifecycle to meet HF assurance requirements.