Human Factors Engineering (HFE)
Human factors engineering (HFE) is a broad and multidisciplinary field that designs and evaluates the human interfaces of a system. That definition masks a lot of complexity, let’s explore the nuances.
User Experience (UX)
UX is very much a type of human factors. UX extends the scope of consideration beyond the product itself to any interface which might affect the user’s perceptions and feelings of the product. Yet, the goal is the same: understand the human’s needs in order to design interfaces that meet them.
DoD re-affirms importance of HSI in acquisition policy overhaul
The US Department of Defense is overhauling it’s acquisition policy from a stale, process-driven approach to a new, outcome-driven approach. The new concept is called the Adaptive Acquisition Framework (AAF). Its goal is to remove bureaucracy and give government program managers more flexibility to adapt to the needs of their particular acquisition.
Learn from the mistakes of others
he problem with being too busy to read is that you learn by experience… i.e. the hard way. By reading, you learn through others’ experiences, generally a better way to do business…
General James Mattis
A Functional Team is NOT an Integrated Product Team
TL;DR: An Integrated Product Team (IPT) is a cross-functional group. If everyone on the team has the same background, that’s a functional or discipline team. There’s a difference.
Board man gets paid
Pro basketball player Kawhi Leonard found his niche as “The Board Man”. What’s your niche?
Diversity in engineering careers
We’ve come a long way. It’s never been a better time to enter the workforce as a woman/person of color/LGBTQ/etc. Diversity in the workforce and leadership of engineering companies is on the rise, barriers are falling, and the value of diversity is being recognized. And yet, we still have so far to go.
The Swiss cheese model: Designing to reduce catastrophic losses
The vast majority of catastrophes are created by a series of factors that line up in just the wrong way, allowing seemingly-small details to add up to a major incident. The Swiss cheese model is a great way to visualize this and is fully compatible with systems thinking. Understanding it will help you design systems which are more resilient to failures, errors, and even security threats.
Thoughts on “A Message to Garcia”
“A Message to Garcia” is a brief essay on the value of initiative and hard work written by Elbert Hubbard in 1898. It is often assigned in leadership courses, particularly in the military. There are a number of interpretations and potential lessons to be extracted from this story. It’s important that developing leaders find the valuable ideas.
It’s time to get rid of specialty engineering: A criticism of the INCOSE Handbook
The INCOSE Handbook “Specialty Engineering” section is a hodge-podge of roles and skillsets with varying scope. It does a disservice to many of the aspects, particularly human systems integration (HSI).