The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development

26.9. Summary

Ironically, the influence of human factors engineering in product design should be transparent to the end user. When a product is well designed, users don't complain about it and probably don't even compliment it—it's expected. However, when a product is confusing to use or is uncomfortable, you will always hear about it—either in customer complaints or lack of sales!

Table 26.2. TYPICAL HFE DELIVERABLES DURING THE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT CYCLE.

Discovery Process and Product Strategy	Product Requirements	Design and Development	Verification and Validation	Manufacturing	Quality Assurance and Regulatory (Safety) Issues	Product Launch and Support
HFE Plan User needs (profiles and context of use) HFE benchmark of existing products	HFE design guidelines User requirements document Task analysis	Theories of operation User interface specifications (hardware and software elements) User evaluation plan(s) and report(s)	Usability test plan Usability report HFE design changes based on field studies	Work instructions Workstation layout	Use error analyses	Labeling and packaging specifications Manuals and training curriculum Customer feedback surveys

Figure 26-1. USER REQUIREMENTS DRIVING HFE TIME AND COST.

Product usability is dependent not only on a dedicated HFE team member and a good HFE program plan, but the goal of product usability and thus product success, must be valued by the entire team—including ...