Description
Apply psychological and human factors principles to the design of products, interfaces, systems, and work environments to improve usability, safety, and human performance. Activities include user research and task analysis, human-in-the-loop testing and risk assessment, ergonomic and interface design, and data-driven evaluation. Partner with engineering, design, and operations to integrate human-centered requirements and optimize system effectiveness.
- • Define human-centered requirements and acceptance criteria for products, systems, and environments.
- • Analyze tasks, workflows, and user characteristics to inform system and interface design.
- • Observe and interview users and operators to understand needs, context of use, and constraints.
- • Conduct usability testing, human-in-the-loop simulations, and field studies.
- • Design and evaluate controls, displays, alarms, and information architecture for clarity and safety.
- • Apply ergonomic and anthropometric principles to workspace, equipment, and tool design.
- • Assess human performance, workload, situation awareness, and error potential across scenarios.
- • Develop and validate evaluation instruments and rating scales (e.g., SUS, NASA-TLX, heuristics).
- • Model and analyze human reliability, cognitive load, and interaction with automation.
- • Conduct hazard analyses, use-related risk assessments, and failure mode reviews.
- • Generate design recommendations and iterate prototypes to improve usability and reduce risk.
- • Analyze experimental and observational data using statistical methods to compare design alternatives.
- • Write human factors engineering plans, protocols, and reports for stakeholders and regulators.
- • Advise product, engineering, and safety leaders on human factors trade-offs and design decisions.
- • Ensure compliance with relevant human factors standards and guidance (e.g., ISO 9241, IEC 62366, FDA HF/UE).
- • Study user responses to product concepts, warnings, labels, and packaging.
- • Design training, procedures, and job aids to support effective and safe system use.
- • Facilitate human-centered design workshops and cross-functional design reviews.
- • Present findings and recommendations to clients, teams, and at professional meetings.
- • Review scientific literature to incorporate current human factors and cognitive science evidence.
- • Provide expert input or testimony on human factors, warnings, and product safety in investigations or litigation.
- • Develop proposals, scopes, and timelines for human factors projects and user research.
- • Train teams in usability testing, task analysis, and human-centered design methods.
- • Collaborate with data science and engineering teams to instrument systems and capture user performance metrics.
- • Support change management and adoption strategies for new technologies and workflows.
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Management & Entrepreneurship
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Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
