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E R G O N O M I C S,-Human
Factors, Man-Machine-Interface
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...Ergonomics or Common
Sense or Ergonomics or Common Sense or...
Ergonomics isn't always Common
Sense; but then again what is Common Sense?
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it a Room Number? |
or
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a
Door
Number? |
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| A Surprising Number of
Room
Numbers are attached to Doors which swing open and hide the Room
Number to all but those who would Duck
into
The
Room looking for the Room Number that
is attached to the Door --Huh? |
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[TOP]
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Now, ...That's a
Room
Number
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\/\/\/-Don't
let Your Fingers do the Walking-\/\/\/
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| How about the Architect
who built a high-rise office building complex and did not install sidewalks?
He only planted grass--and
he was roundly criticized: "What could he have been thinking?"
Six weeks later he returned and installed
sidewalks--right where the tenants had worn pathways: taking their route,
not the architect's. |
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Tactile Feedback:
Keyboard Keys, Mouse Buttons, Joystick
buttons, etc...
Tactile feedback is one of the most
BASIC sensory inputs to human operators. |
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Nuclear Power Plant Control Rooms
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2 Reactors, 2 Control Rooms,
one the Mirror Image of the Other.
Heard just before
the Melt-Down:
"...I'm replacing Jones, who's out sick,
I normally work in control Room B..." |
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What's Wrong with this Picture?
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Aircraft
Warning! Systems
From Flashing lights
& loud Buzzers to Voice Warning
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the early days after WWII, as aircraft performance increased at an astonishing
pace, the U.S. Air Force faced the problem of alerting aircrew members
to emergencies quickly.
This was especially true on long missions
where pilots suffered from "Highway Hypnosis."
When an event did occur, flashing light and
blaring horns went un-noticed for tens of seconds to as much as several
minutes. This delay to action--whether extinguishing a fire or leaving
the aircraft--was frequently fatal!
So a solution was sought in the form of an
Automated Voice Warning System: |
It started off using a Male Voice:
"Attention! Attention!
Attention! Number two engine is overheating!" |
Soon it was discovered that the pilot responded
even faster to a Female Voice:
"Hello Sailor! Hello
Sailor! Hello Sailor! Your number two engine
is overheating, Honey!" |
And quicker still, was the use of the voice
of the pilot's Wife or Daughter:
"Daddy!
Daddy! Daddy! Your
number two engine is overheating!" |
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Although this all started with the
B-47 and B-52 heavy bombers, it is now pretty universal to most military
aircraft.
Now when a pilot first takes delivery
of his new F-16 fighter, he brings with him a cassette of his wife's,
daughter's, or mother's voice samples and uploads them to the F-16's flight
computer. |
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Aircraft Instrument:
Attitude Gyro, A.K.A., Artificial Horizon
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is a primary aircraft instrument called the Attitude Gyro (known also as
the Artificial Horizon).
Its function is to present to the
pilot the aircraft's attitude or position relative to the horizon: it indicates
pitch (climb/dive) and roll (bank angle/rate of turn).
The standard/conventional instrument
display presents a fixed aircraft wing against a moving horizon.
I propose a nonstandard instrument
display that presents a moving aircraft wing against a fixed
horizon.
The reason behind this departure
is based on my experience as an Instrument Trainer (Link Trainer) instructor
in the USAF.
Years ago my task was to administer
the SAC Instrument Exam to B-52 pilots 90 days prior to their taking the
same exam in the actual aircraft.
Among the exercises was a newly added
procedure call the "Recovery from Unusual Attitudes." This was where the
pilot would close his eyes, and I would take the aileron wheel and put
the aircraft into an unusual attitude, e.g., climbing and rolling to the
right; diving and rolling to the left, etc...then I would tell the pilot
to open his eyes and recover the aircraft.
Invariably--if the pilot had never
done this exercise before--he would open his eyes look at the attitude
gyro and recover the aircraft the wrong way, backwards--then realizing
his mistake, would recover it correctly.
However, once a pilot had gone through
this exercise, he always recovered the aircraft correctly there after.
This tells me that the instrument
is intuitively backwards, that the basic instinct is to view the aircraft
(wings) as moving against a stationary horizon.
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Standard Attitude Gyro, Horizon
moves
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Nonstandard Attitude Gyro,
Wings move
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Boxes, Packages, Crates...
Things with Sides,
Tops
& Bottoms
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If the This
Side Up caution is printed on the side that is suppose
to be Up, But
it is not Up but
Down,
Covering the This Side Up
directions: How do you Know when it is setting on its Top
and should be Turned Over? Hu? Hu?
Gee, Would This Work?-->
<Bottom, Other End Up> |
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| From an Ergonomic point
of View:
Can 'Book
Layouts'
be much Worst ?
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"Hmm,
lets see... Where to put the Page
Numbers on this Book?"
Page
Numbers:
Location
How about the top outside corners, where one's
eyes will be if and when they start to read that page!
How much extra Ink would it take to put the
page numbers at more than one location on the page? --The Reader
now has their choice.
Numbering System
Duh, Where does Chapter Eight begin? Page
446 -v- Page 8-1 (maybe use both?)
TOC
& Index
Why is the Index
at one end of the book, and the Table of Contents at the other?
When I go to either,
how many pages away am I?
If the Table
of Contents and the Index
were in the middle of the book, wouldn't that be more convenient?
Index in the middle
with slightly Larger Pages (and heavier paper?)
Need for:
Summary, Outline,
Diagrams, etc...
Reader's Digest bullets
on their TOC--old days and Now!
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Magazines with Missing
Page Numbers--What a Pain! --
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The U.S. Postal
Service
Come on Guys: How about a Drive In Window
... Duh!
Post Office Parking Lots, They are
either nonexistent, or they are so far from the customer counter, you need
a shuttle bus. One gets the feel that "autos are a Temporary Thing." |
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Street Signs:
Too Damn High to see at night!
Lettering Too Damn s m a l l to see
until its too late to turn.
Apartment House Numbers, Placement, e.g., Walnut Hills apartments
at night time: don't forget to bring a machete
and a map of the area.
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Stair Steps
Who were these steps designed for, small children? |
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Future Topics:
Drive-Ins: Awnings at Mc Donald's, Hardee's, etc., there
is nothing more satisfying than to take my fries with a little rain water.
And, the Menu Signs have small print and are set back from the customer's
car; when the time comes to give your order, then you can read the
menu.
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My personal Favorite: Oscilloscope
Layout
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OK, I give
up. Where the Hell is the "Trigger Level"
on this one?
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| Most Engineers feel intimidated using an unfamiliar Oscilloscope. |
If
automobiles were designed the way Oscilloscopes are, you might hear the
following:
"...Oh John,
look at this model, it has the Steering Wheel in the glove compartment."
"Well, take
a look at this one Gurt, this one has it in the trunk..."
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Most TV Remote Controls are
anything but Intuitive!
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Gold on Black
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Big Buttons
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Touchy Feely Buttons
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Back to Basics, More Intuitive --Ahh,
Knobs |
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Intuitive Toggle Switch
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Lathe
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Non-Intuitive Toggle Switch
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milling
Machine
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Explanation:
In the case of the Lathe, the toggle switch "points" in the direction
of the Cutting Tool's travel.
The Milling Machine, on the other hand, the toggle switch is reversed.
Even though the "End Mill" (cutting tool) is stationary and the Piece being
milled moves; the machinist "Watches" the piece being milled: to him the
"relative" movement is the Endmill tool moving 'against' the Piece to be
milled. |
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