Human Factors

Human factors are integral to applied academic programs such as interaction design. In this chapter, the authors begin by reviewing precepts of authentic, “real-world” learning. From a human factors and interaction design viewpoint, they then describe an authentic learning project—a mobile application design—that was done by university students in collaboration with a leading global specialty retailer. Specifically, in terms of the project, the chapter reviews the following: 1) benefits and challenges of academic and industry collaborations; 2) human factors and interaction design processes, methods, and principles used throughout the authentic project; 3) anthropometric features of the project prototype and their implications for usability; 4) precepts of cognitive information processing (i.e., human attention, perception, and memory) and their importance for the design and usability of the project's interface; 5) insights and lessons learned about the use of authentic learning experiences in teaching human factors and interaction design.