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Human Factors - A Key to ImprovedQualityThomas Backstrom and Nigel ClaridgeTelecom services are being developed rapidly, and introduced at an alarming pace.Both end-users and telecom network operators will soon experience how theseservices and other emerging possibilities place new and greater demands on theircommunication with the telecom system. Technical solutions must take human issuesinto account - technology is used by people in their daily lives. As the number ofservices offered increases, it will become more and more important to provideefficient interaction between the individual and the technology.Internationally, the art of creating an integrated man-machine system is known asHuman Factors Engineering, or Human Factors for short.The authors describe what Human Factors is, Ericsson's corporate policy within thearea, and the process required to create good and usable products from the humanviewpoint.human factorstelecommunication servicesstandardisationFig. 1In a changing world, where telecommunicationsis becoming a part of everyday life of the individual,variations in culture, traditions and languageplace demands on the design of telecom productsand services. Human Factors increases thedegree of usability and acceptability by makingproducts simple and easy to useEricsson manufactures and supplies productswithin a wide variety of areas - fromspecialised and complex products, suchas information systems used in fighter aircraft,to public and private telephone exchangesand consumer products such astelephone sets. Each product has its ownset of specific design requirements andconditions, based on the characteristicsand limitations of the intended users.Although there are few similaritiesbetween the design specifications for thecockpit of a modern fighter and those fora desk-top telephone set, all products - irrespectiveof the level of technology - haveone basic demand in common: they mustbe designed so as to perform well in theenvironment for which they are intended.Clearly, a fighter cockpit or air traffic controlcentre requires significantly more developmentresources than a simpler product,but how many of us have beenfrustrated, if not injured, when using a canopener. After several unsuccessful attemptswe have probably thrown it away.To avoid these problems, the way a productwill be used - and by whom - must bethoroughly analysed and the results integratedearly into relevant product specifications.In principle, there is little differencebetween the Human Factors methods appliedwhen designing a cockpit and thoseapplied in the design of a telephone set.The variation lies in the number and complexityof relevant factors, resulting incockpit design being significantly more difficultand more extensive.Historical backgroundThe need for new specialist knowledgearose because both users and manufacturersbecame more and more specialisedin their activities, and because demandsfor safety and efficiency increased. Thisknowledge identified demands to be includedin product design - demands thatwere based on the users' (operators') cognitiveand physical limitations and the worksituation. It also formulated these demandsso that they were understood andusable by the systems engineer.The need for Human Factors knowledgewas accentuated during the Second WorldWar. Technical developments advancedto such a degree that individuals operatingsystems and vehicles experienced seriousdifficulties and were exposed to personaldanger. It became necessary todesign control systems and to present informationin a way that permitted efficientoperation, yet avoided overstressing theindividual and eliminated the risk of accidents.This development has continued, and HumanFactors knowledge is now applied notonly to complex and sophisticated productsbut also to a wide range of everydayproducts, such as cars, computers, toolsand machinery and consumables. Aids forthe elderly and the handicapped is anotherarea where Human Factors knowledge isapplied.ERICSSON REVIEW No. 1-2, 1992