<aside> 🚩 In design, Human Factors Analysis is the process of rationally and scientifically determining the extent to which an intervention excludes users from using it, for the sake of eventually maximizing the number of people who can use an intervention.

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Overview

In each pass through the Study, Propose, Critique loop of your design project, you will need to analyze the extent to which people are excluded from using your design due to the demands it places on their perceptual, cognitive, or physical/motor abilities.

For Loop 1 you will perform a subjective assessment using the rubric provided below. For Loops 2 & 3 you will use the Cambridge Exclusion Calculator to make more precise estimates of the exclusion level in your design.

You will then use those estimates to consider how to reduce the demands for steps as described in the Usage Scenario to maximize the number of people who can use your intervention.

How to Analyze Human Factors

Generally, you will use the Usage Scenario of each Design Concept to reason out the task that imposes the greatest demand on a particular HF, and then document it.

The specifics of how you do this will change in each pass through the Study, Propose, Critique loop. These are described below.

In Loop 1

Steps

Follow these steps in Loop 1.

Using the Usage Scenario of your Design Concept, specify the nature and extent of the HF demands to the best of your abilities using the Basic Product Use Demands Scale below.
- For each of SET-UP, USE, and PUT-AWAY, identify the Usage Scenario task that places the greatest demand on the (a) perceptual, (b) cognitive, and (c) physical abilities of potential users.
- Each team member will perform this step for their Loop 1 design concept.
Record your analysis using the Tabular Format for Basic Product Use Demands Analysis shown below.
Use this information to identify and document Design Issues to be addressed in the next pass through the Study, Propose, Critique loop.

The Basic Product Use Demands Scale

The scale given below is meant for you to assess the demand placed on users by your design concept for a given step in a usage scenario.

Level	Product Use Demand
0	No demand - device can be used without this ability (virtually everyone is capable)
1	Very Light - design places very low demands on user, most people can use this (approximately 5% of the population is not capable)
2	Light - design places noticeable demand on user (~10% not capable)
3	Somewhat hard- design places demands that challenge the average person (~20% not capable)
4	Hard - Above average capability needed to use the device. (over 50% not capable)

Tabular Format for Basic Product Use Demands Analysis

| Demand Type | US Step # (Most demanding task) | Demand Level | Notes (including what drives the demand) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | SET UP | | | | Perceptual | | | | | Cognitive | | | | | Physical | | | | | | USE | | | | Perceptual | | | | | Cognitive | | | | | Physical | | | | | | PUT AWAY | | | | Perceptual | | | | | Cognitive | | | | | Physical | | | |