This article describes an assignment for use in courses covering human factors psychology. The assignment requires students to identify a poorly designed object they encounter in their daily lives and to suggest an alternative design that would be more effective and user-friendly. This exercise allows students to experience the type of thinking and decision making involved in human factors psychology. Students prove to be creative with their designs, and they evaluate the assignments favorably.
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References
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NormanD. A. (1988). The design of everyday things.New York: Basic Books.
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NormanD. A. (1992). Turn signals are the facial expressions of automobiles.Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
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SandersM. S.McCormickE. J. (1993). Human factors in engineering and design7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
