tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182Sat, 14 Feb 2026 08:52:48 +0000ergonomicsdrivingHCDIreal world designErgonomics SocietyBrunelhuman-centred designFoot-LITEhuman factorsscience communicationproductsautomationaviationCall it ergonomics, call it human factors, human-centred design is about making things better by design. Dr Mark Young of Brunel University's Human-Centred Design Institute in the UK airs his views on why human-centred design matters.http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)Blogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-4541492017442913817Tue, 04 May 2010 10:09:00 +00002010-05-04T11:09:52.191+01:00 I've been getting back on my bike lately, after a long absence that I'd like to say was enforced through some sort of heroic injury, but it's really just down to laziness. Anyway, it's been getting me thinking about the ergonomics of my bike, and bicycles in general. Apart from the obvious pain in the bummular region when you've been out of the saddle for a while, there are other physical and http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2010/05/bicycle-ergonomics.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-792610595793980531Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:44:00 +00002010-01-15T20:44:28.634+00:00drivingergonomicsHot on the heels (well, at least warm on the heels) of my last post about texting and driving, news from the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas is that Ford is blazing a trail with a whole new raft of potentially distracting technologies.&nbsp; "MyFord" essentially offers mobile phone apps through the car using wifi or 3G technology. I don't need to go into detail about why this might be bad - http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2010/01/driver-distractons-next-generation.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-4549167271146946696Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:21:00 +00002010-01-04T22:21:42.913+00:00drivingergonomicshuman factorsOkay, so I'm catching up on stuff after the Christmas break, but this is one paper that's made quite a splash - I'm certainly not the first to be blogging about it.&nbsp; The latest issue of the journal Human Factors features a paper by Frank Drews and colleagues which, I gather, is the first peer-reviewed study on the effects of texting on driver performance. As you might expect, texting and http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2010/01/texting-while-driving.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-1591624572968870297Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:39:00 +00002010-01-04T21:39:16.022+00:00ergonomicshuman-centred designproductsAt the end of every year, there always seems to be a contagion of top 10 (or 100, or 1000) lists in the media reviewing the previous 12 months - usually on TV, featuring various rent-a-quote nonentities.&nbsp; Naturally, at the end of 2009, there were even more of these to ensure we'd covered the last 10 years.&nbsp; However, a couple of websites have caught my eye as they've been reviewing the http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2010/01/review-of-decade.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-810866946120735282Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:44:00 +00002009-12-18T22:00:07.447+00:00Ergonomics Societyreal world designSo 2009 is coming to an end, and with it I think a rather successful 60th anniversary year for the Ergonomics Society - or should I say, the Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (IEHF), for on 20th October the change of name was officially approved by Companies House.Naturally I'm biased towards the exhibition at the Design Museum - which runs to 7th March 2010, so we are prolonging the http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/12/end-of-60th.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-1094311596787829293Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:45:00 +00002009-11-27T15:55:54.860+00:00ergonomicsErgonomics Societyreal world designscience communicationWell, it's finally arrived - all of our hard work over the last year or so has paid off, and the Ergonomics: Real Design exhibition at London's Design Museum is now open.There was a media preview last Tuesday, which generated us some excellent coverage on the BBC and in The Independent, as well as several popular design magazines. Then it opened to the public on Wednesday, and by all accounts http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/11/ergonomics-real-design.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-2492061985489614862Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:00:00 +00002009-11-04T23:11:22.842+00:00human-centred designproductsreal world designI just couldn't resist following up with this little tidbit I heard on the Chris Evans show on Radio 2, on the way home from my driving meeting I just blogged about. His theme for the show was red vs. brown - that is, in terms of sauces. He had a representative from Heinz giving us the history of ketchup, but the bit that pricked my ears up was his explanation of the design decision to turn the http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/11/human-centred-ketchup.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-4708128921057574053Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:28:00 +00002009-11-04T23:00:26.655+00:00automationdrivingergonomicsI’ve been playing with new cars again today – one of the few perks of the job which crop up from time to time. I can’t give too much away as it was a closed meeting, but most of the cars and their associated technologies are already on the market so I can talk in general terms. Suffice to say I got to drive several cars much more valuable than my own (some would even pay off my mortgage…), and http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/11/new-cars-new-toys.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-5655793206327051500Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:14:00 +00002009-10-16T17:33:13.679+01:00aviationdrivingergonomicshuman factorsscience communicationI had the privilege this week of presenting at the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety's (PACTS) conference on 'Beyond 2010: the challenges ahead'. This was largely centred around the proposed road safety strategy for the future (which I've commented on before) and had a very much 'what are we going to do about it' feel. Interestingly, the opening sessions were largely focused http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/10/ghosts-of-transport-yet-to-come.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-5536683744922845963Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:05:00 +00002009-10-05T22:22:33.488+01:00BruneldrivingFoot-LITEHCDILast week I attended the First International Conference on Driver Distraction and Inattention, held at Lindholmen Science Park in Gothenburg. The site is next door to Chalmers University, which itself has good links with Volvo research – so it was an excellent choice of venue, and as you can see from the pictures, a very pleasant setting to boot.The conference itself was top notch too, with some http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/10/distracted-and-inattentive.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-4498506997640660874Fri, 21 Aug 2009 21:49:00 +00002009-08-21T22:52:39.215+01:00automationdrivinghuman factorsI don’t feel right snaffling someone else’s blog posts, but I just had to pick up on this gem from Tom Vanderbilt, as it’s so close to my own research interests. (Tom’s is an excellent blog for driving buffs, too, and he’s always got something interesting.)The ‘Autonomobile’ from Mike and Maaike is a design exercise to come up with a driverless car. This kind of thing comes around from time to http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/08/autopian-future.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-9090907227198616775Fri, 21 Aug 2009 21:16:00 +00002009-08-21T22:35:03.242+01:00drivingergonomicsErgonomics SocietyYesterday I went to the inaugural meeting of the Ergonomics Society’s newest Special Interest Group (SIG) – the Driving Ergonomics SIG. This was hosted at Cranfield University, though the SIG has been set up and chaired by Nick Gkikas of Loughborough University.There’s currently some 20-odd members in the SIG, and more than half of those turned up yesterday. It’s a really good mix of academic http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/08/driving-ergonomics-special-interest.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-6800915384064510504Fri, 31 Jul 2009 21:51:00 +00002009-07-31T23:17:54.785+01:00ergonomicsFoot-LITEHCDIhuman-centred designSo this is slightly old news now, but seeing as I've finally got over the jet lag and on top of my inbox, I'm just about in a position to tell you about the Human-Computer Interaction International conference I went to last week.HCII is a series of conferences which has assimilated nine other conference series over the years. I started going to Don Harris' Engineering Psychology &amp; Cognitive http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/07/hci-international-2009.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-1461624230141258729Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:07:00 +00002009-07-17T21:20:03.836+01:00ergonomicsscience communicationAs I'm sure many others do, I subscribe to Google's news alerts looking out for media stories on ergonomics and/or human factors. When I first signed up, there wasn't a lot of activity, and the stuff they picked up on was pretty obscure. More recently, though, there's been a lot more substantial pickings coming through. Whether this is due to Google getting even better at what they do, or morehttp://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/07/ergonomics-in-news.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-1761747255927903866Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:15:00 +00002009-07-03T20:37:27.644+01:00aviationhuman factorshuman-centred designI’ve been getting a bit more into this blogging lark, realising that it’s more about participation in the ‘blogosphere’ than just standing on a soapbox. Preaching to the converted for anyone reading this, I’m sure, but setting the context for this week’s post.The fact that we’ve had a couple of major air accidents in recent weeks has resulted in the usual rash of media stories (and now bloggers) http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/07/human-factors-is-back-in-business.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-1946450977198349319Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:50:00 +00002009-06-26T19:55:47.846+01:00ergonomicsErgonomics Societyhuman-centred designreal world designscience communicationI’ve been to a couple of events this week that have inspired me to think more about how to engage a wider public with ergonomics and human-centred design issues.The first was the British Science Association’s Science Communication Conference, an excellent event with a star-studded list of presenters, including Lord Professor Robert Winston, Professor Kathy Sykes, and Professor Jim Al-Khalili. http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/06/armchair-ergonomists.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-7989061018890742039Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:19:00 +00002009-06-19T18:39:27.618+01:00BruneldrivingergonomicsSomething I’ve been meaning to post on since I saw it a month ago, is a story on ergoweb with a new perspective on the perennial problem of driver distractions from mobile phones. As the article comments, and as I’ve mentioned here a few times before, the fact that mobile phones are distracting is nothing new to ergonomists. But this new research from Liberty Mutual suggests that drivers aren’thttp://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/06/distracted-drivers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-7405353709960079974Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:41:00 +00002009-06-09T22:03:48.606+01:00BrunelergonomicsErgonomics SocietyHCDIreal world designNo prizes for guessing what this post is about – last week we took a sample of the Real World Design exhibition to the Cheltenham Festival of Science as a sneak preview for them and a test run for us. Needless to say, this was a fantastic opportunity, afforded to us by some great work in the Ergonomics Society office, which we grabbed with both hands.Cheltenham is one of the biggest science http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/06/cheltenham-festival-of-science.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-7510061331849105446Fri, 29 May 2009 18:42:00 +00002009-05-29T20:00:00.159+01:00drivingergonomicsI've been meaning to mention this in my blog for a while, but other newsworthy things have been happening to report on. Anyway, the UK's Department for Transport currently has open a consultation on road safety strategy to take us beyond 2010, when the current strategy expires.I've been feeding in comments via a couple of avenues, which I don't need to go into too much detail about here, but on http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/05/safer-way-road-safety-consultation.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-1223487866030368470Fri, 22 May 2009 12:18:00 +00002009-05-22T14:05:07.073+01:00ergonomicsErgonomics SocietyOn Tuesday evening this week I had the pleasure of attending the Ergonomics Society Annual Lecture, given by Professor Rob Stammers of the University of Leicester, on 'Kenneth Craik: a progenitor for ergonomics'. It was at the Royal Society of Arts, just off the Strand in London - a prestigious venue with very nice hospitality beforehand!Craik was a psychologist who did his most profound work http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/05/ergonomics-society-annual-lecture.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-8540413135735869431Fri, 15 May 2009 11:49:00 +00002009-05-29T20:04:27.446+01:00drivingergonomicsreal world designIt’s been another busy week, with a couple of interesting days providing great opportunities to wave the flag for human-centred design and ergonomics.On Tuesday I gave a presentation at the Design Museum to other university lecturers in design, as part of the museum’s ‘Design Factory’ student initiative. I won’t steal the museum’s thunder by saying too much about that here; it’ll appear on the http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/05/museums-and-conferences.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-5743896054782411235Fri, 08 May 2009 15:48:00 +00002009-05-08T17:08:17.073+01:00drivingergonomicsErgonomics SocietyI'm fortunate enough to be involved with various groups through my work with the Ergonomics Society, one of which is the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS), as I sit on their Vehicle Design Working Party. At our meeting this week, which was kindly hosted by Thatcham, we got to play with a bunch of new cars fitted with various advanced driver assistance systems.I'm not http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/05/crash-proof-cars.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-995736811762957449Fri, 01 May 2009 18:47:00 +00002009-05-01T20:05:57.800+01:00BrunelHCDIIt must be the season for events, as hot on the heels of the Ergonomics Society Anniversary Conference last week, this week it was Brunel University’s turn to steal a little limelight with a major event for the official opening of the Michael Sterling building.Professor Michael Sterling is a former Vice-Chancellor of Brunel, and having just retired he was the honoured guest at the event. The http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/05/grand-opening.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-4956327216804757208Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:58:00 +00002009-04-24T18:04:32.344+01:00BrunelergonomicsErgonomics SocietyHCDIreal world designThe highlight of this week has to be the Ergonomics Society 60th Anniversary Conference, held Wednesday and Thursday at the Royal College of Physicians just by The Regent’s Park in London.Actually the festivities kicked off on Tuesday evening with a VIP reception, where we were showered with wine and nibbles and treated to a couple of top drawer speeches from Dr Ian Gibson, MP for Norwich North, http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/04/ergonomics-society-anniversary.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4409414192894199182.post-6507287409826127970Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:36:00 +00002009-04-17T16:38:10.445+01:00drivingFoot-LITEWell, I had a break for Easter, but the tide of technology marches on. At the risk of seeming repetitive, I have another three-part list of interesting car technology stories that have made the news recently, which are relevant to our Foot-LITE project that I’ve blogged about here before.First up is a trial on ‘black boxes’ for young drivers in Staffordshire that has been permanently adopted. http://humancentreddesign.blogspot.com/2009/04/driving-technology.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (<a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedstaff/design/markyoung.bspx">Mark Young</a>)2