Human factors research : methods and applications for architects and interior designers

250 Pages·1987·10.32 MB·English

by  John E Harrigan

Advances in Human Factors/Ergonomics
Series Editor: Gavriel Salvendy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, U.S.A.
Vol. 1. Human-Computer Interaction (G. Salvendy, Editor)
Vol. 2. Human-Computer Dialogue Design (R.W. Ehrich and R.C. Williges, Editors)
Vol. 3. Expertise Transfer for Expert System Design (J.H. Boose)
Vol. 4. Engineering Physiology: Physiologic Bases of Human Factors/Ergonomics
(K.H.E. Kroemer, H.J. Kroemerand K.E. Kroemer-Elbert)
Vol. 5. Human Factors Testing and Evaluation (D. Meister)
Vol. 6. Applications of Fuzzy Set Theory in Human Factors (W. Karwowski and A.
Mital, Editors)
Vol. 7. Human Reliability: Analysis, Prediction, and Prevention of Human Errors (K.S.
Park)
Vol. 8. Human Aspects of Occupational Vibration (D.E. Wasserman)
Vol. 9. Human Factors Research: Methods and Applications for Architects and
Interior Designers (J.E. Harrigan)
Advances in Human Factors/Ergonomics, 9
Human Factors Research:
Methods and Applications for
Architects and Interior Designers
John E. Harrigan
Professor of Architecture, California Polytechnic State University,
San Luis Obispo, CA, U.S.A.
ELSEVIER
Amsterdam - Oxford - New York - Tokyo 1987
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© Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., 1987
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
While developing the practical aspects of human factors for professional and
classroom application, the author has been influenced by a number of
associates. The concepts of architectural education defined by George J.
Hasslein, F.A.I.A., Paul R. Neel, F.A.I.A., William Brown, A.I.A., and Wesley S.
Ward, A.I.A. have had a great influence on the author, as has the scholarly
example set by Professor Arthur J. Chapman and Jens G. Pohl, F.R.A.I.A.
The original research program was supported by a grant from the National
Endowment for the Arts. Opportunities for professional review of the methods
and applications under development were provided by the publication
programs of the Human Factors Society. Publisher Richard Blake was the first
supporter of the series of publications that led to this monograph. The most
recent developments, prior to this publication, appear in The Handbook of
Human Factors, edited by Professor Gavriel Salvendy and published and
copyrighted by John Wiley & Sons.
The author is grateful to Ashton-Tate, Microsoft Corporation, Computer
Support Corporation, Kepner-Tregoe Inc., Decision Support Software Inc.,
and Borland International for their support and for making available to the
author the following programs: Framework II; Word, version 3.0; Diagraph,
version 3.4; Decision Aide II; Expert Choice; and Turbo Prolog, the
copyrighted and registered trademarks of the parent companies.
The graphic representations of the human factors information system were
created by Bruce Fraser, A.I.A. In the editing of the manuscript the author
collaborated with Janet Harrigan, Doreen Connor, and Patrick Harrigan. In the
final preparation of the manuscript, the author was ably assisted by Etoile
Holzaepfel and Jessica Harrigan.
John Harrigan
New Castle, Ν. H.
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INTRODUCTION
HUMAN FACTORS RESEARCH
Human factors is not a new criterion of success. It has long been recognized
that spaces, buildings, facilities, and planned environments should be
responsive to human needs and wants. In the past it was enough to strive to
achieve this, but today one must offer a guarantee of success. When allocating
capital funds, clients expect more than merely adequate results. Project
sponsors insist that designers respond to valuable human resources, so costly
to develop and support, with outcomes that enhance performance and
satisfaction and assure safety, security, and convenience. When challenged to
make the human factor a specific criterion of success, architects and interior
designers should strive to learn as much as possible about the client's situation
and user needs and wants, and incorporate this knowledge into design
deliberations. This book was written with the goal of making these undertakings
exact, timely, and successful.
While this book is directed to architects, interior designers, and students of
environmental design, others may find it of value. Those who employ
professional design and planning services, executives who formulate policy for
facility development and capital investment, administrators of housing,
community service, educational, and recreational programs, developers
concerned with community acceptability and marketability, managers of office
buildings, industrial plants, and service and retail stores, and those who plan to
design their own environments - all need a systematic approach to assure full
benefits from their efforts and capital investments.
DEVELOPMENTAL CRITERIA
Work on this book began with the establishment of guideline criteria. The
chapters of this book respond to these criteria with a delineated human factors
research methodology. Adherence to the following criteria increases the
likelihood that data produced by research will be effectively employable in the
practitioner's office. If a human factors research system is to be of value to the
practicing professional:
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(1) It must effectively bridge the gap between research and design.
A practicing professional seeking to use human factors principles and
practices must readily see the connection between the research
activities and the design decisions that have to be made. If obtained
information has to be reformulated for design application, time is lost and
errors in interpretation are likely to occur.
(2) It must be understandable by the full spectrum of potential
clients and users. No human factors undertaking can be successful
without the cooperation and collaboration of those most knowledgeable
about what constitutes a successful project outcome. No designer alone
should decide what is appropriate for a given situation. The needed
cooperation, collaboration, and shared responsibility between designer,
client, and user can be achieved only if the shared research approach is
understood by all participants.
(3) It must provide a means for project history retention. Human
factors research is an investment whose benefits must be realized again
and again. User needs and wants are recurring phenomena that are
associated with particular building types and client situations.
Recognizing this repetition, what you learn from one project must be
readily examined and employable d on the next.
(4) It must be appropriate for both design and design evaluation
activities. Human factors activities are of two types. First, human factors
will be used in the process of design, aiding in the establishment of
design objectives, criteria, and specifications. Secondly, as design
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concepts and features are developed, they can be evaluated from a
human factors perspective. Thus, a research methodology must be able
to lead both situational analyses and design review activities. Certainly, a
research methodology will be valued when it helps guard against
unwarranted biases and the arbitrary application of information.
(5) It must be divided into mutually exclusive tasks, allowing a
number of individuals to work on the project simultaneously.
Project management is always challenged by the need to use staff
efficiently and to keep on schedule. One way to meet this challenge is to
divide project tasks into blocks of activities. Within these blocks
assigned tasks must be clearly distinguished from one another to
preclude duplication of effort and at the same time allow for time-overlap
so that schedules can be compressed.
16) It must be seen as a scope of work that can be estimated in
terms of time needed to perform tasks and cost of application for a
specific project. Human factors undertakings need to be so clear in
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purpose and requirements that a budget can be developed that is correct
in terms of time and funding allocated. When competition takes place
between firms, the decisive factor is often estimated cost of service.
Reducing cost to the minimum required to do a good job requires exact
knowledge of what must be done and how it will be undertaken.
(7) It must be a legally recognizable description of a contracted
professional service. The steps taken to complete the tasks specified
in a research proposal must be clearly understood by those outside the
design profession. Contract lawyers and client project monitors, in
particular, must be able to identify and confirm the nature of the
professional service being proposed.
18) It must respond to all the criteria specified here in a manner
that permits the utilization of computer technology and programs.
From the first step to the last in a human factors undertaking, computer
applications may be employed, if for no other reasons than enhanced
project organization, history retention, and information manipulation,
storage, and retrieval. Greater means for analysis, alternative
development, and option evaluation, further justify this recommendation.
RESEARCH AND DESIGN
Art, engineering, and science meet when architects and interior designers work
to provide new experiences, places, and concepts. The work of architects,
interior designers, and associated professionals combines information and
methodology with insight and spontaneity. A constant movement between fact
and art characterizes the work of designers, which is not a problem or
shortcoming, but rather an essential element for success (Harrigan, 1986:761).
This description of design processes also applies to the study of the human
factors aspects of design. In order to succeed, human factors research must
blend the subjective and objective aspects of user needs and wants, that is, the
application of argument and evidence to research findings and design
proposals.
The basic decision made in response to this point of view was to blend research
and design into one process. Such a concept reflects the reality of design:
constant switching back and forth between discovered design requirments and
possibilities and the rendering of these ideas as design statements. It was
difficult to distill this process into a readily followed procedure that combines
design speculation and rigorous analysis in a manner that produces significant
results. Figure 1 presents this goal in graphic form.
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Figure 1. Research and Design are blended into one process.
No one is more challenged to conduct human factors studies in the context of
environmental design than the practicing professional. Detachment may be
possible for some, but professional designers can accept no relationship to
their work other than a direct and personal one. It is certain that the public, as
users of the built environment, expect this type of involvement. There are, of
course, many references which specify the goals of design and preferred
design criteria. Such references provide useful background information, but
architects and interior designers never assume that any concept, design
perspective, or human factors standard is sacrosanct. They recognize that each
design situation is worthy of study and the most intense critical analysis. This
means that the effort in design is quite often the discovery of what a particular
situation demands. As design is most often a process of association stimulated
by this discovery, the concern here is to accumulate ideas and sharpen
perceptions, emphasizing productive research which always points to what is
important to the client, significant for users, and challenging to the designer.
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CONTENTS
In order to achieve all that we desire, five essential aspects of human factors
research have been identified and developed for professional application.
(1) Human Factors Information System. The promise found in human
factors research can be readily realized through the use of an
encompassing taxonomy of basic questions. The array of questions
presented in Chapter 1 provides all the benefits of standardization. As
such the information system provides a common starting point for all
f
projects, structured so that the insights and information gained in one
project can be used in subsequent projects. Employing a standardized
system means that we can rapidly identify critical and significant design
features. We are never unsure or hesitant about the information we need
to perfect environments from the users' point of view.
12) Supplemental Questions. If human factors activities are to be worth
the time, effort, and cost expended, they must provide an opportunity to
realize the full potential of client and user contributions to project
deliberations. When opportunities for cooperation, collaboration, and
shared responsibility are limited, research results are superficial, and
without validation by those most familiar with the situation. Chapter 2
provides a strategy and means for probing inquiries. Each supplemental
question builds upon a corresponding question in the human factors
information system.
(3) Research Methods. If the designer applies the research methods
presented in Chapter 3 correctly, the information obtained will help him
respond to future events and achieve desirable conditions with
confidence. We will employ these research methods in several ways: to
determine how clients and users are disposed to answer the questions
in the human factors information system and selected supplemental
questions; to obtain detailed descriptions of the activities to which the
space, building, facility, or planned environment must respond; and, to
develop concepts that go beyond specific individuals and situations to
the broad realm of such sociocultural considerations as norms, customs,
lifestyles, and traditions.
(4) Evaluation Procedures. Chapter 4 establishes that valid research
results require explicit design objectives, criteria, and specifications. The
procedures specified are used to produce results with a direct relevance
to the professional and technical decisions which will be made during
design.
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(5) Applications. Application procedures which help assure economy,
timeliness, and useful results are presented in Chapter 5.
CHAPTER 1: INFORMATION SYSTEM
While the goals of human factors research in design are readily understood,
careful consideration should be given to a broad range of possible research
activities. Human factors research can be extensive, resulting in a description of
the full spectrum of user expectations and requirements. It can also be quite
limited, focusing solely on what the client considers critical. The premise of the
human factors information system, shown in Figure 2, is that design and
planning should respond to nothing less than a thorough study of what people
need and want. Meeting this demanding criterion of success is the challenge to
which this basic information system is directed.
Each question in the human factors information system initiates a series of
detailed inquires, which identify the questions you need to answer if you intend
to plan and design environments from the perspective of user expectations and
requirements. If you have already accepted the challenge of user-oriented
design, you will recognize that the design of the information system helps you
determine what a particular environment means to the user, to guard against
inefficient, inadequate, and unsafe conditions, to establish options so that users
can exercise personal preference, and, in effect, to achieve the best possible
physical and human environment.
A review of Figure 2 will demonstrate that no question in the human factors
information system is unique. Indeed, these are the questions designers ask
daily. The unique aspect of the information system is the degree of organization
achieved and the efficiency with which it addresses a complex design
challenge. The first part of the information system, 1.0 PROGRAM CONTEXT,
stresses the need to establish objectives, to develop an image of the future, to
specify your alternatives, and to work to select the alternative most reasonable
for your client's situation. The next two parts, 2.0 ORGANIZATION
CHARACTERISTICS and 3.0 USER CHARACTERISTICS, help you create an
image of users and their activities. Part 4.0 CIRCULATION relates the
information system to the total plan or design of the planned facility. 5.0
SPACE PLANNING addresses the need to achieve correspondence between
environmental features and user expectations and requirements. Part 6.0
SURFACES reminds designers that surfaces may influence users to a greater
degree than any other element of a physical setting. By the time you reach 7.0
SPACE ARRANGEMENT, sufficient information exists to create an integrated
design scheme. The questions in 8.0 SITE CONSIDERATIONS must be
answered to achieve compatibility between facility, site, and neighborhood.
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