News and Insights

Core Human Factors recently went to Dave & Busters for some friendly, team-building, game-oriented competition! We split up into small teams and had fun playing trivia, logic games, scavenger hunts, and of course winning tickets in the D&B game room. Congratulations to the winning team: Tim, Amanda, Jen, Harini, and Chris Kim!

by Naomi Cherne, PhD A  recent fatal tragedy  at an Indian MRI facility in which an oxygen tank was allowed to be brought into an MRI room highlights the steep consequences of breakdowns in communication in the context of healthcare systems. The facts of the case are under investigation, but the initial statements reported in the press from the laypeople (i.e., non professionals) involved in the tragedy call to mind several usability principles: the importance of understanding mental models and user groups, the provision of safety information at point of use, and learning from past events. Mental models drive expectations.  The laypeople apparently expected that the magnet needed to be turned on in order to work. However, MRI magnets are always on; when an MRI magnet is stopped, helium is released in large quantities and fills the room, and the magnet can be irreparably damaged by the stopping process. Magnets are stopped only in an emergency such as a fire in the scan room or som