Hfe's Place in the Parade: Should We Be Drum Majors or Toot Our Own Horns?

Abstract

A debate among the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society's membership concerns the best method for increasing the disciplines prominence and influence in the design of human-centered systems. At last year's Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, President William Howell gave a perspective on the two schools of thought—(1) the Unique Discipline model and (2) the Shared Philosophy model. In this panel discussion, several members of the management community that lead groups practicing HFE were asked to share their experiences on their successes and barriers in moving HFE to positions of influence in product design.