Human Factors (HF) are concerned with the design of systems to optimise human well-being and overall system performance. To this end, HF practitioners contribute to the design and evaluation of tasks, jobs, products, environments and systems in order to make them compatible with the needs, abilities and limitations of people.

However, practical experience shows that HF knowledge and methods are not systematically used in system design, although a lot of guidance material is available. Possible reasons include time pressure, costs, no involvement of HF expertise, scattered HF knowledge or just a lack of local experience. As a result, even basic ergonomic and HF principles are often not complied with in system design. This decreases overall system usability, reduces performance, increases workload and even undermines safety in air traffic control (ATC) operations. High additional expenses and delayed schedules are common consequences on a project management level.

This course aims to highlight the potential discrepancies between design operation and operator need. The course will promote the integration of human in the loop in design process and human-centred design. The course will detail what kind of knowledge is essential so that sustainable enhancements can be suggested and developed in practice.

Current literature indicates that HF methods and knowledge are not systematically used in system design practice. Real-life examples from the aviation domain and other relevant domain will be used to illustrate the issues of complexity, unexpected resistance and the many limitations that can be encountered in design.