Human factors engineering is an area of research that examines human performance, technology, and design. This area includes the human-machine interaction and is synonymous with cognitive ergonomics. Specifically, the focus of this discipline serves in answering key aspects of how humans interact with products and how well they perform with them. How do we make the environment function in a way that seems natural to humans? (Wickens & Hollands, 2013)

This playbook contains foundational information about human factors engineering and is meant to serve as a high-level overview rather than a detailed treatment of the material primer. Many of the topics covered expand well beyond the scope of this playbook, as evidenced by the fact that many Ph.D.-level UX professionals completed their graduate work in Human Factors programs.