VIA Interaction

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Life and Death Usability

Whne we try to determine if a Web site works by observing people trying to use it, we frequently find that our point of view shifts from "All the instructions are there, it's their fault" to "We need to change this to support the way people interact with it."

In other words, you adapt to the customer, not force the customer to adapt to you.

I travel this stretch of Route 1 quite a bit and it is dangerous. The state of Maine has brought in a human factors expert to work on the "interface" in an attempt to find ways to cut down accidents.

Psychologist helps analyze dangerous Route 1 stretch:

WOOLWICH — Officials are using a different kind of expert to help them shrink the number of accidents on Route 1 between Woolwich and Wiscasset. A psychologist has been collaborating with engineers, police and town officials on a plan to improve safety on the stretch of road.

Results of the Route 1 safety audit won't be available for two weeks. But members of the team said psychologist Tom Granda of the Federal Highway Administration has already recommended several inexpensive measures to make the road safer, such as reducing signage to eliminate driver confusion and repainting pavement to make turning lanes clearer.

Granda has a doctorate in human factors psychology and works at the administration's research center in McLean, Va. He and his colleagues assess driver behaviors using test cars and simulated driving conditions.

'My job is to integrate human beings into a system, like a highway system,' Granda said. 'We try to make sure the system fits the person. If you design a system correctly, then you will lessen the number of errors humans make.' ...

posted by Tim Beidel at 8/13/2005 12:24:00 PM

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