CHI 2005 | Development Consortium

April 2-7 | Portland, Oregon, USA

The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Perspective
Arnold M. Lund
Microsoft Corporation

3720 159th Ave NE Rm 34/3214
Redmond, WA 98052
alund@acm.org
425-706-8891

Lynn Strother
Human Factors and Ergonomics
Society P.O. Box 1369

Wendy A. Rogers
Georgia Institute of Technology

Santa Monica, CA 90406-1369
lynn@hfes.org
310-394-1811

ABSTRACT

School of Psychology
Atlanta, GA 303320-0170
wr43@mail.gatech.edu
404-894-6775

This mission and these members illustrate the diversity ofHFES. To serve these individuals is a unique challenge that
HFES has faced since its instantiation. This is also thechallenge identified in the overview of the CHI 2005
Development Consortium. Namely, how can organizations
meet the needs of multidisciplinary professionals andmembers with different goals? And do so within theconstraints of professional organizations and the constraints
imposed by legal, liability, and regulatory requirements?

We first describe the Human Factors and Ergonomics
Society (HFES), then our challenges with respect tomeeting the needs of multidisciplinary professionals. We
discuss how HFES has tried, as a professional organization,
to meet the needs of its diverse members.
Author Keywords

Human factors, ergonomics, multidisciplinary, professionalsociety

NEEDS OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROFESSIONALSACM Classification Keywords

HFES tries to meet member needs through a variety ofmechanisms. We recognize that the annual meeting cannot
be all things to all people. We rely on our publications,cosponsorship of other meetings, and organizational
structure of student and local chapters, and technical groups
to satisfy members’ broader professional needs.

Human factors, ergonomics, design, usability, systems
INTRODUCTION

The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (hfes.org) is a
professional organization that promotes the discovery andexchange of knowledge about the capabilities andlimitations of humans to improve the design of systems anddevices. HFES was established in 1957 and since then we
have held annual meetings with published proceedings. We
publish two scientific journals, and a magazine of humanfactors applications, books, and have recently started anannual review series. HFES has 22 technical groups, 35
local chapters, and 35 student chapters.

The Annual Meeting

HFES hosts an annual meeting organized both in a top
down and bottom up way: at the highest level by theCentral Office and the Executive Council, but the technicalprogram is created by the Technical Groups within theconference framework. Part of the value of the conferenceis that it is like several conferences held simultaneously,
thus allowing a broad range of interests to be satisfied(crucial for a profession where one's interests may spandifferent areas). The HFES annual meeting is typicallyattended by 30-35% of our members, with some fluctuation
due to location. To meet the needs of our members thetechnical program consists of multiple formats such as
paper sessions, panels, and poster sessions. We offer “Birdsof a Feather” rooms where people with similar interests canhave informal discussions. We offer workshops which areintensive tutorials on specific topics such as questionnaire
design, usability testing, web site design, cognitive task
analysis, and human performance modeling.

UNDERSTANDING THE DIVERSE NEEDS OF
MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROFESSIONALS

The mission of the Society as stated in our strategic plan is
to “serve and represent the members as the premierscientific, engineering, and professional practiceorganization for the discipline of human factors.” TheSociety is the meeting place of research, teaching, andpractice; knowledge generation, and the application ofknowledge. There are both internally focused activities tosupport the members, as well as externally focusedactivities (e.g., standards activities, education). HFES
members include psychologists, engineers, computerscientists, and are employed in industry, service,government, and education.

Publications

The quarterly journal Human Factors, in its 46th volume,
publishes original scientific research and review papers. It
is highly ranked in terms of its impact factor in thisdiscipline and is a key journal for the academic tenure
process. Approximately 12 years ago we added a new
publication called Ergonomics in Design to provide anCopyright is held by the author/owner(s).
CHI 2005, April 2–7, 2005, Portland, Oregon, USA.
ACM 1-59593-002-7/05/0004.

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CHI 2005 | Development Consortium

April 2-7 | Portland, Oregon, USA

We also rely on communication of our executive director
with executive directors of other organizations. For
example, a meeting is planned for the spring of 2005 of agroup of chief staff officers of design-related societies. TheHFES executive director is also active in the Council ofEngineering and Scientific Society Executives and theAmerican Society of Association Executives. Staff
networkingwithin
relatedprofessional/scientificorganizations is essential to enhancing opportunities forstrategic partnerships and collaboration while maintaining
the healthy boundaries that are a reality of a competitivemarket for association members and their resources.

outlet for publishing human factors applications. It has astrong audience within HFES members, but its tone isintended to enable it to serve as an outreach tool to educate
those outside the discipline. This “magazine” has proved tobe a valuable addition to our publication portfolio.
This past year we approved the creation of a new journal
called the Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision
Making. Although publishing is an expensive venture thatmust be carefully considered, we believe that it is importantfor organizations to adapt to changing demands of the field.
Cosponsoring Meetings

Many members of HFES are active members of otherprofessional organizations such as CHI, the American
Psychological Association (APA), and the Institute ofIndustrial Engineers, to name just a few. We have madeefforts to sponsor meetings jointly such as the Applied
Ergonomics Conference (http://www. appliedergo.org/) andthe Midyear Meeting of APA’s Division 21 (AppliedExperimental and Engineering Psychology) and the HFES
Potomac Chapter.

Table 1. HFES Technical Groups
Aerospace Systems
Aging
Cognitive Engineering &Decision Making
Communications
Computer Systems
Education
Environmental DesignForensics Professional
Human Performance Modeling
Healthcare Systems
Individual Differences

A critical question relating to co-sponsorship of meetings isdetermining who bears the financial risk or burden of suchconferences. We are currently developing a process for cosponsoring and look forward to discussions in theDevelopment Consortium about experiences in this area.

Industrial Ergonomics
InternetMacroergonomics
Perception and Performance
Product Design
SafetySurface Transportation
System Development
Test and Evaluation
Training
Virtual Environments

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Arnold M. Lund is Director of User Experience inMicrosoft’s mobile computing division, and has been
actively involved in HFES and CHI. He is an HFES Fellow,
has been program chair for Computer Systems TG and theCommunications TG. He was general co-chair of CHI ’98,
founded the Denver chapter of SIGCHI, and has held
various posts on the CHI program committee. Lynn
Strother is Executive Director of HFES. She is a Certified
Association Executive (CAE), a designation administeredby the American Society of Association Executives and has
served as the President of the Council of Engineering andScientific Society Executives (CESSE). Wendy A. Rogers
is the current HFES President. She has been actively
involved in HFES for many years serving as Chair ofStudent Affairs, Chair of the External Relations Subcouncil,
and Member-at-Large of the Executive Council.

Smaller Group Meetings

HFES has local and student chapters which hold regularmeetings for networking and professional development.
Some chapters host small thematic conferences.
The HFES Technical Groups (Table 1) are organizedaround domain and methodological areas. Some hostsmaller intensive meetings periodically. One example is theInterface conferences held in the 1980s as joint conferencesof the Consumer Products Technical group and local
chapters of the Industrial Design Society of America. Thesemeetings were a victim of their own success and became
too large for small groups of volunteers to organize. HFES
is pursuing ideas for supporting this type of meeting.
Another more recent example is the upcoming meeting
coordinated by members of the Macroergonomics
Technical Group (http://cqpi2.engr.wisc.edu/odam2005/)
which is their eighth such meeting in the last 20 years.

SUMMARYHFES is multidisciplinary by definition of the field of
human factors and ergonomics. Our members work in arange of settings including academia, government
laboratories, large corporations, and small businesses. As
such, they sometimes have very different individual goals,
although as a Society we have common strategic goals andobjectives. Our approach has been to be proactive indeveloping Society activities to meet members’ needs,
beyond our annual meeting. We look forward to sharing ourideas with the participants in the development consortium,
learning from them about their strategies, and exploring
opportunities for collaboration across organizations.

Informal Communications

In addition to face-to-face meetings, HFES hosts list serves
for student chapter presidents, local chapter presidents,
technical group chairs, and many of the technical groups
have also set up list serves and web sites (see hfes.org forlinks). These electronic communication methods facilitate
interactions among members for the exchange ofprofessional information and research questions.

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Programs and Services of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
PUBLICATIONSPERIODICALSHuman Factors, the Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. Peerreviewed archival journal, published quarterly. Nancy J. Cooke, Ph.D., editor.
Ergonomics in Design, the Magazine of Human Factors Applications. Peerreviewed applications publication, published quarterly. C. Melody Carswell,Ph.D., editor.
The Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making. A new quarterly
journal to be published beginning in 2005. Mica R. Endsley, Ph.D., editor.
The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Bulletin, HFES's monthly
newsletter, available via postal mail and on line.
Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Directory and Yearbook, publishedannually
Annual Review of Human Factors/Ergonomics, Ray Nickerson, editor. First
volume to be published in 2005
BOOKS
The Ergonomics of Sound: Selections from HFES Annual Meetings, 1985-2000,
Ellen Haas and Judy Edworthy, Editors
Humans and Automation: System Design and Research Issues, by Thomas B.
Sheridan (copublished with John Wiley, Inc.)
Macroergonomics: An Introduction to Work System Design, by Hal W. Hendrickand Brian M. Kleiner
Readings in Training and Simulation: A 30-Year Perscpective, by Robert W.
Swezey and Dee H. Andrews
Designing for an Aging Population: Ten Years of Human Factors/Ergonomics
Research, Wendy A. Rogers, editor
Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders: Research on Manual Materials
Handling, 1983-1996, edited by Waldemar Karwowski, Michael S. Wogalter, andPatrick J. Dempsey

Anthropometric Methods: Designing to Fit the Human Body, by John A.
Roebuck, Jr.
HFES Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction, Gary Perlman, Georgia K.
Green, and Michael S. Wogalter, editors
Human Factors Perspectives on Warnings, Kenneth R. Laughery, Sr., Michael S.
Wogalter, and Stephen L. Young, editors
Human Factors Perspectives on Warnings, Volume 2: Selections from HumanFactors and Ergonomics Society Proceedings, 1994-2000, Michael S. Wogalter,
Stephen L. Young, and Kenneth R. Laughery, Sr., editors
New Trends in Cooperative Activities: Understanding System Dynamics inComplex Environments, Michael McNeese, Eduardo Salas, and Mica R. Endsley,
editors.
TECHNICAL STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES
Guidelines for Using Anthropometric Data In Product Design, by the HFES 300
Committee
Human Factors Engineering of Computer Workstations, BSR-HFES 100
Committee, Draft Standard for Trial Use.
ONLINE DIRECTORIES (HTTP://HFES.ORG)
Directory of Human Factors/Ergonomics Graduate Programs
Directory of Human Factors/Ergonomics Consultants
BROCHURES AND SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS
Ergonomics Design Awards http://hfes.org/News/Design_Awards.html)
Good Ergonomics Is Good Economics
http://hfes.org/publications/GoodErgoGoodEco.html
The Adolescence of Engineering Psychology
http://hfes.org/publications/GoodErgoGoodEco.html
Preparing for a Career in Human Factors/Ergonomics
http://hfes.org/careerguide/index.html
Quick Tips for Finding a Human Factors/Ergonomics Job in Industry
http://hfes.org/publications/quicktips1.html
Designing for Human Use http://hfes.org/publications/DesigningForUse.html
VIDEOS

"Human Factors/Ergonomics: The Profession and the Society""Human Factors Success Stories
OTHER MEMBER SERVICESHFES Online Placement Service (at http://hfes.org)
Online Member Directory
Online Directory of Consultants
HFES INSTITUTE (Technical Standards and Best Practices/Guidelines)
HFES 100 Committee – U.S. National (ANSI) Standards Development
Committee for Human Factors of Computer Workstations
HFES 200 Committee – U.S. National (ANSI) Standards Development
Committee for Human Factors of Software
U.S. TAG to ISO/TC 159, "Ergonomics" and its subcommittees, SC1,
Ergonomics Guiding Principles; SC3, Anthropometry and Biomechanics; SC 4,
Ergonomics of Human/System Interaction; and SC5, Ergonomics of the PhysicalEnvironment.
HFES ANNUAL MEETING
In its 49th year, the HFES Annual Meeting brings together approximately 1200
researchers, academicians, students, and practitioners for a five-day meeting that
includes technical sessions, workshops, tours, social events, and technical groupbusiness meetings. The 2005 Annual Meeting will be held from September 26
through 30 at the Royal Pacific Resort, Orlando, Florida.
AWARDSHFES presents the following society-wide awards annually:
The Jerome H. Ely Human Factors Article AwardThe Distinguished International Colleague Award
The Paul M. Fitts Education Award
The A.R. Lauer Safety Award
The Alexander C. Williams, Jr., Design Award
The Alphonse Chapanis Best Student Paper Award
The Jack A. Kraft Innovator Award
The Arnold M. Small President's Distinguished Service Award
The Best Ergonomics in Design Article Award
The O. Keith Hansen Outreach Award

FELLOWSHFES Fellows are those members whose outstanding, sustained, and superiorachievements qualify and service to the Society qualify them for special
recognition. Each year, the Society elects a small number of candidates, who passthrough a rigorous selection process, to this class of membership. Honorary
Fellow status is available to those members who are outstanding in theirachievements but who may not qualify for Fellow because they do not meet thecriterion for Society Service.
TECHNICAL GROUPSHFES includes 21 technical groups, reflective of the broad and interdisciplinaryinterests of the members. Each technical group elects officers, publishes anewsletter, hosts a web site, and contributes to the program of the Annual
Meeting. The HFES Council of Technical Groups includes representatives fromeach TG, and it advises the Society on technical and organizational issues. HFES
Technical Groups are as follows:
Aerospace Systems
Aging
Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making
Communications
Computer Systems
Education
Environmental DesignForensics
Health Care
Human Performance ModelingIndividual Differences in PerformanceIndustrial Ergonomics
InternetMacroergonomics
Perception and Performance
Product Design
SafetySurface Transportation
Systems Development
Test and Evaluation
Training
Virtual Environments

STUDENT AND LOCAL CHAPTERS
A network of local chapters that serve specific geographical regions in the U.S. andinternationally, and student chapters located in universities provides a meeting place formembers whose physical proximity enables them to hold regular meetings, engage in
special projects (including community service), and enjoy networking and social
activities.
COMMITTEES
Under the direction of six subcouncils of the HFES Executive Council, HFES has morethan 40 committees, task forces, and advisory boards categorized in the broad generalareas of Corporate Activities, Communications/Publications, External Relations, Internal
Relations/Membership Services, Professionalism, and HFES Institute (technicalstandards, guidelines, and best practices).