Clinical and Experimental Psychology

Aim and Role of Human Factors Psychology

Hamza Riaz^{* *}Correspondence: Hamza Riaz, Department of Psychology, CBIT, India, Email:

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Introduction

Human factors psychology is concerned with the development and improvement of products, equipment, machinery, and surroundings that complement human capabilities and improve performance and safety.

Human factors are an interdisciplinary field of psychology that studies ergonomics, workplace safety, human error, product design, human capability, and human-computer interaction, among other things. In truth, the phrases human factors and ergonomics are frequently used interchangeably in the United States, with human factors dominating in the United States and ergonomics dominating in Europe.

Human factors engineers use psychological principles to develop products and work environments that increase productivity while reducing risk. 1 This field differs significantly from clinical or counselling psychology in that it does not focus on understanding individuals or solving psychological disorders.

Human factors were initially established during World War II, when a group of professionals collaborated to increase the safety of airplanes. Human factors psychology has grown in popularity since then, and it now plays an important part in a variety of sectors, including computing, manufacturing, product design, engineering, the military, and government.

What is Human Factors Psychology?

Human factors psychology is a very practical field, with the majority of those who work in it working in the field. Human factors psychologists spend a lot of their time conducting research and using what they've learned about human behavior, perception, attention, and cognition to make better products and work environments.

Human factors psychologists frequently do study on specific areas in order to answer real-world issues affecting human performance. A human factors psychologist, for example, might do study on a specific workplace product, such as a screen interface used by workers at an electrical plant.

The psychologist can then modify the product to make it easier, safer, and more accurate to use after conducting study on how employees engage with and use the interface. Human factors psychologists may also assist in the development of healthcare programmes and products. Psychologists can assist reduce potentially dangerous errors in healthcare settings by studying how individuals interact with these products.

Human factors psychologists may be involved in a variety of tasks on a daily basis, including developing training programmes, increasing human productivity and performance, designing more reliable products, creating ergonomic workstations to reduce employee fatigue and injury, and researching ways to reduce human errors.

Work Environment

Human factors psychology can be used to practically any circumstance in which humans interact with surroundings, goods, or technology; hence practitioners in the discipline are frequently engaged in a variety of settings. They might assess and design defense products and technologies for government organizations, or they might design computers and software for private enterprises.

The following are some of the companies and organizations that might hire a human factors psychologist:

• Consulting firms that are recruited by both government agencies and private businesses
• Government agencies at the federal, state, and municipal levels
• Private companies in industries like health care, computers, automobiles, aerospace, telecommunications, nuclear power, and consumer goods.

Specializations

Human factors psychologists can specialize in one or more areas. Cognitive ergonomics, Error prevention, Human-computer interaction, Product design, Usability, User experience engineering are some of the specialties in this discipline.

Reasons behind Studying this Field

There are numerous compelling reasons to pursue a degree in human factors psychology.

Human factors psychology is a multidisciplinary profession that frequently collaborates with experts from other disciplines, such as engineering, medicine, and computer science. Before you determine if working in this field is right for you, consider the following benefits:

Human factors psychologists assist others by: developing usable products; working to improve worker safety and efficiency.

1. Human elements are important. Psychologists demonstrate their creativity by: evaluating aesthetic modifications that can increase product usefulness and performance.
2. Designing user-friendly interfaces.
3. Investigating how people interact with products and surroundings.