Systems approach to modeling controversy in Human factors and ergonomics (HFE)

Contemporary debate regarding the shortcomings of human factors and ergonomics (HFE) models has inspired a growing interest in the HFE community to reconsider what constitutes a scientific model. Concerns are raised about the scientific credibility and adequacy of the existing models to explain human performance in sociotechnical systems. This study aims to address the debate through an epistemological understanding of different modeling approaches and discuss the suitability of each modeling approach for HFE problems in socio-technical systems. We argue that above anything, HFE is a systems discipline and therefore requires systems models and methodologies to support systems view on performance. The dominant outcome-oriented modeling approaches are ill-suited to study the complexity of today's sociotechnical systems. Alternatively, mathematical and simulation modeling can be beneficial in highlighting the inherent complexities, feedback loops, and temporal properties of HFE constructs.