Human factors

Human factors (also known by its acronym, HF; hereinafter, HF) is the scientific study of interactions between people and other entities that form one system, as well as influence of human characteristics called factors on those interactions.

Two terms, HF and ergonomics, are often used interchangeably. However, ergonomics is more commonly applied to interactions between a human and non-human components of a system, while HF more frequently refers to both human-to-human and human-to-non-human interactions.

Definitions

According to the Handbook of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering,

Ergonomics (human factors) is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of the interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory principles, data, and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance.

History

In the early 1980,