title: The role of Human Factors in system development.
abstract: The application of Human Factors or ergonomics principles to American system development occurs in a highly unstructured, problem-solving environment in which inputs compete with each other for acceptance. Factors determining whether human engineering inputs will be accepted include: the specification (or lack thereof) of personnel performance requirements; the advantages supplied by the human engineering recommendation; the costs involved in implementing it; the funding supplied by the customer for the new system; and his oversight of human engineering efforts. Human Factors efforts are required in at least five of the six major phases of system development: System Planning; Predesign; Detail Design; Production; Test and Evaluation; and Operations. Each phase introduces behavioural questions that must be answered if the system is to be designed properly. Each question demands specific techniques and skills of the human engineer.
authors.affiliation: US Navy Personnel Research and Development Center, San Diego, California, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Meister