Assessing Corporate Perceptions of a Human Factors Lab using Thematic Text Analysis

Abstract

To assess and increase the organizational maturity of a new human factors lab in a distributed, multi-disciplinary company, a briefing on lab capabilities, goals, and available resources was given to employees at a business meeting. An open-ended survey question was posed to employees pre- and post-briefing to assess corporate perceptions of the human factors lab. Thematic text analysis was used to assess the overall corporate perception of the lab, as well as any differences in the pre- and post-brief perceptions, and differences in perceptions across both technical and managerial personnel. Three major themes emerged from employee responses (the lab as a corporate mechanism, actions performed by the lab, and technical domains of the lab), which did not differ in prevalence across pre- and post-brief responses. Technical personnel had a larger proportion of their mental model attributed to the actions performed by the lab than did the managerial personnel.