Why Did I Get Into Human Factors?

It’s not an obvious choice of career. Most people I speak to have never heard of it. My own path into it was also not obvious. I studied Psychology at University, mainly because I thought it would be interesting, and so it was. Back in the mid to late 80s during my Psychology degree, the latest buzz was cognitive psychology. Models for processes of the mind were seen as the way to understand how the brain worked. If a model could accurately reflect the way people operate in some way, then that would be seen as evidence supporting the model.

Later I discovered Ergonomics and studied it to MSc level. But I liked and still like the way cognitive psychology enables the mind to be likened to an engineered piece of technology. That suits the way I go about solving Human Factors problems. It also suits the people I work with. Engineers don’t need to know why people have capabilities and limitations, they just need to know what they are. They come to me to get that advice, and go away satisfied knowing whether their designs will be operable and usable by the target audience.

Of course, in reality, the capabilities of people are pretty varied, but some are special. Earlier in my career at the Defence Research Agency Farnborough, I had the luck to be involved in selecting the driver for the Thrust SSC jet powered car that currently holds the World Land Speed Record. The ten or so guys on the final shortlist were all aircraft pilots, mostly fast jet.  My role was to provide a serial response time test amongst a battery of computer based reaction time and fine motor co-ordination tests. All the candidates had amazing reaction times and control skills, and all were super motivated. Nevertheless, it soon became clear that one Tornado pilot, Wing Commander Andy Green, had incredible hand-eye coordination and reaction times. It was no surprise to me that he was chosen to drive Thrust SSC. His skills guided that jet on wheels through the sound barrier to 763mph to convincingly take the World Land Speed Record in Black Rock Desert on the 15th October 1997.  Through that project, I met other special people; the Thrust SSC Director and previous World Land Speed Record holder Richard Noble, and legendary aerodynamicist Ron Ayers. I even appeared briefly on Tomorrow’s World (I loved that TV show).

Quite a highlight for a job that so few people have ever heard of.