In this book the author aims to introduce human factors professionals to the complexities, challenges, and procedures of systems design. The author defines systems as ". . . an interacting combination, at any level of complexity, of people, materials, tools, machines, software, facilities, and procedures designed to work together for some common purpose" (p. 22). Having included people as one of the main elements of a system, the main objective of the book is to show human factors professionals what and how they could (or should) contribute in the various stages of a system life cycle.
Chapter 1 contains a general introduction with motivations and definitions related to human factors. In Chapter 2, systems and systems engineering are defined, followed by a presentation of a general system life cycle, from perception of need, through the complete design process, production, operation and maintenance, and disposal. Throughout the presentation of the life cycle the possible roles of human factors professionals and importance of their input are highlighted. Chapter 3 defines the external (e.g., standards, codes, guidelines) and internal (e.g., specifications, plans, reports) documents relevant to the system design cycle. Chapters 4 to 6 review the spectrum of human factors knowledge and methods that might be applicable in the various phases of the systems design. Human factors methods and issues related to physical and mental characteristics of humans are reviewed. In Chapter 7 issues related to personnel selection and training are discussed. Chapter 8 revisits the development of system requirements, as the single most important area for high impact contribution of human factors professionals. Chapter 9 discusses the need for extensive, organized documentation in the design of systems and closes the book.
This book tries to close a gap between the recommendations of human factors professionals and the information usable by system engineers. According to the author, general, well-intended guidelines like "workplaces should accommodate at least 95% of the potential users" should be translated by human factors professionals into concrete, verifiable dimensions like minimum width, depth, and height of a chair seat. The author states that system engineers should not be the ones expected to seek human factors literature, understand it, and translate it to their design needs.
The book is therefore aimed at human factors professionals. Chapters 2, 3, 7 and 8 bring them to the world of systems design. Although potentially repetitive for a trained human factors professional, the definition of human factors in Chapter 1 and the presen-