Re: starting human factors work

Hi Carrie - being a developer myself I find "our kind" respond best to
issues framed in a way that make sense to us logically.

Consider setting up a meeting where everyone is invited to learn what HF is
all about - dispel the myths, educate about how much effort goes in to it,
talk about other companies and how they benefit from HF, talk about amazing
products they can relate to (iPhone, Xbox, etc.) that benefit from deep HF
research, and really try to frame it as a discipline with real meaning and
impact. Although resistant to change, developers can be very open to being
educated once you prove something has meaning.

Your goal in this presentation is to speak with authority - leave them
feeling like you are incredibly valuable and they are lucky to have you,
that your product will be better because of it and ultimately their lives
will improve as they begin to adopt this new philosophy.

You are not a bottleneck but a gateway!

Also, make it a topless meeting for real impact (no laptops, iPhone,
BlackBerries, other distracting BS)

Hope this helps!
Shimone Samuel


On Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 4:00 PM, Carrie Lee <[email protected]> wrote:

> hi all,
>
> i recently started at a company where I am the first Human Factors Engineer
> they've ever had. I've been in this position before at another company and
> it didn't go to well since developers were used to making all the decisions
> themselves and didn't want to listen to anyone, even the users. These
> developers would insist that users are stupid and they (the developers)
> know
> what is best. (I don't work there anymore.)
>
> Can anyone point me to articles or books that talk about how to start a
> successful Human Factors discipline within a company that never had
> anything
> like this???
>
> It's obvious this company needs people like me, but some developers here
> seem to be on a similar path - saying they know what is best and
> disregarding research and recommendations from users. I still find myself
> implementing what someone "thinks" is best, despite research and
> recommendations going the opposite way.
>
> The company did hire me, although I don't know who championed that
> decision.
> My direct manager is a project manager, and I am part of the software
> engineering team. Everyone likes the idea of having human factors work
> done,
> but not when it messes with any deadlines. I was initially asked to give
> recommendations for a product that is scheduled to be shipped out on Feb
> 15.
> Needless to say, my recommendations are not being considered since it's too
> late to make design/development changes....
>
> - carrie
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