Inherent human strengths and limitations impact human performance. Human Factors is the scientific study of how human strengths and limitations affect the way that people interface with products, machines, and systems in their environment. The field of human factors traces its origins to World War II and the work and experience of scientists and engineers involved in human operations of systems, especially flight systems. Today, Exponent’s Human Factors scientists and engineers continue the tradition of applying knowledge of human capabilities and limitations to the performance of a wide range of activities within the aviation industry.
Aviation industry operators and passengers interface in a cross-functional, complex, high-workload environment. Interaction with various systems and people often under strict time constraints is required and optimal human performance is critical.
Examples of individuals and groups interacting in the aviation environment include:
- Pilots
- Airline Passengers
- Gate and Ticket Agents
- Mechanics and Machinists
- Flight Attendants
- Baggage Handlers
- Air Traffic Controllers
- Aviation Security
- Airline Dispatchers
Within the context of evaluating human performance within this complex environment, we draw from research in areas such as: perception, attention, workload, decision-making, learning, memory, language processing, anthropometry, and biomechanics.
We assist our clients by researching the contributing and causal factors behind human performance decrements, and we also support our clients during the design process to address potential post-production issues such as: operational performance, warnings and alerting effectiveness, system usability, anthropometric considerations, and technical documentation interpretability.
Examples of our services:
- Design and evaluation of tasks, displays, and controls
- Evaluation of the cause and affect of fatigue on operator performance. Contributing factors can include: cumulative sleep debt, rotating shift schedules, extended shifts and work weeks and circadian misalignment.
- Assessment of situational awareness and workload given alternative display interfaces such as those found in the flight deck and air traffic control centers
- Cabin incident assessment of passenger and flight attendant injuries. Examples of injuries include: scalds from hot coffee, turbulence-related injuries. and unexpected luggage departure from bins.
- Assistance with defining and implementing the methodology to demonstrate compliance with the new human factors certification guidance (EASA CS 25.1302, AMC 25.1302 and soon to be incorporated by the FAA)
- Evaluation of movement errors by operators
- Analysis of cabin passenger safety