Questions: Human Factors and Ergonomics

Question 1

A hospital redesigns its medication dispensing system after discovering that nurses frequently select the wrong drug due to similar packaging. This redesign exemplifies which human factors principle?

• A. Designing for the average user
• B. Error-tolerant design — making the system resistant to predictable human errors
• C. Increasing training requirements to prevent errors
• D. Motivating workers to be more careful through disciplinary consequences

Answer: (B)

Error-tolerant (or error-resistant) design is a core human factors principle. Rather than blaming the nurse for selecting the wrong medication, the human factors approach asks why the system made the error predictable — similar-looking packages invite confusion. The solution is to redesign the system (distinctive packaging, barcode verification, forcing functions) so that the error becomes difficult or impossible. This is fundamentally different from approaches that blame the individual and demand more vigilance.

Question 2

Human factors research shows that human error is primarily caused by careless or incompetent workers.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

A foundational principle of human factors is that most human error results from poor system design, not individual negligence. Reason's Swiss cheese model shows that errors propagate through multiple system layers with aligned weaknesses — no single individual is typically the sole cause. Poorly designed interfaces, confusing displays, inadequate training, excessive workload, and lack of feedback create conditions where errors are statistically inevitable regardless of individual competence. The human factors approach shifts the focus from blaming individuals to redesigning systems.

Question 3

What is meant by the principle 'design for the user, not for the designer' in human factors?

Model answer: This principle means that systems should be designed based on the capabilities, limitations, and tendencies of the actual end users — not based on the designer's own expertise, preferences, or assumptions about how users should behave. Designers are not representative users; they have technical knowledge and familiarity that end users lack. User-centered design involves studying actual users, testing prototypes with them, and iterating based on their performance and feedback.

This principle addresses the 'designer's curse' — the tendency for creators to assume that what is obvious to them is obvious to everyone. A software engineer might design an interface that makes perfect sense to someone who understands the underlying code but is incomprehensible to the target user. Human factors methods (task analysis, usability testing, cognitive walkthrough) systematically correct this bias by centering the design process on empirical data about user behavior.