Human Factors Engineering (HFE), also known as Human Factors Psychology (HFP) (and formerly Engineering Psychology), is the study of how people interact with different objects in their environment. Human Factors professionals consider the physical and mental capabilities and limitations of humans to design and improve products and systems. The overall goal of HF is to design and build products that are easy and safe to use.
HF is an interdisciplinary field that incorporates aspects of engineering, psychology, computer science, cognitive science, kinesiology, and others. The Mechanical Engineering and Psychology departments co-host the Human Factors programs at Tufts. Students from both the School of Engineering and School of Arts and Sciences can choose to major in HFE (SOE) or HFP (A&S).
Human Factors professionals hold a variety of jobs in many different industries. Human Factors started in the military, and there are still many jobs in HF that relate to military work. For example, a military HF project might be to redesign a certain type of pack so that it fits both male and female soldiers. There are also a lot of HF jobs in medical devices, where safety is a top priority. Similar to the military, a big part of medical HF is considering the physical and mental state of the user, as well as specific environmental concerns. For example, ER nurses are under a considerable amount of stress in their day to day work, and their attention is often split between triaging patients, responding to alarms, and interacting with other ER staff. Another big industry for Human Factors professionals is computers, either as UI/UX developers for software companies, or working on human-computer interaction for robotics.
If you are interested in learning more about Human Factors overall, the program at Tufts, and what HFE/HFP majors do after graduation, read our FAQ.