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Insights from 1,000 Participant Sessions in 2023

Reading Time: 2 minutes In the ever-evolving landscape of human factors and usability research, our research team has reached a significant milestone. We conducted over 1,000 participant sessions in 2023! And all before Halloween!  This journey has provided more…

Crash Course on URRAs

Reading Time: 4 minutes As human factors specialists in the medical device industry, our world is centered around mitigating use-related risks. Ultimately we hope to design a device that is safe and effective to use. An important aspect of…

Means and Medians: When To Use Which

Reading Time: 4 minutes It is an age-old question in data representation: should I use the mean or the median?   Statistical analyses can be a slippery slope. Many human-centered research professionals must utilize a deep level of understanding…

Simplifying the 2023 FDA Guidance on Human Factors Engineering Principles for Combination Products

Reading Time: 4 minutes Like with all medical devices, the application of human factors principles is essential for the development of safe and effective combination products. On September 7, 2023, the FDA released “Application of Human Factors Engineering Principles…

Healthcare Human Factors Engineering and Psychology: Six Perspectives

Reading Time: 3 minutes Understanding the ways humans interact with medical devices is a multifaceted challenge. It requires considering physiological, cognitive, and social aspects of human behavior. Medical Human Factors Engineering utilizes diverse psychological perspectives to optimize the design…

The Sweet Spot in Usability Interviews: How to Get Richer Qualitative Data

Reading Time: 3 minutes In the business of making the world a more user-friendly place for people, we do our best work when we can interact with and talk to those people we represent. There are many great ways…

Everything You Need to Know About the NASA-TLX

Reading Time: 6 minutes The NASA-TLX and Human Factors In 1988, Sandra G. Hart of NASA’s Human Performance Group and Lowell E. Staveland of San Jose State University introduced the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). With more than 15,000…

Capturing a Human Factors Usability Study: AV Technology

Reading Time: 4 minutes Human Factors and Usability Testing A/V Equipment After weeks of designing your usability study, it’s time to take it live. Your human factors process is working! But how do we capture the audio? How do…

People don’t make errors. Products fail to prevent errors.

Reading Time: 3 minutes No matter the product—an inhaler, a surgical robot, a medication pump, or a smartphone application—following a human factors engineering process will use usability studies. Usability testing is a research method designed to evaluate a product’s…

Interface Design Basics to Aid Visual Search

Reading Time: 4 minutes Visual search and user interface design are completely intertwined. Visual search and object detection concern not only our human visual system searching through an area of space (i.e., a screen), but also locating the desired…