Bad Human Factors in Entertainment
By: Rory Klingensmith We all know the movie scene where the main character needs to wire an urgent ransom to the kidnapper, but the banking app is confusing. In these entertaining scenes, we see missed opportunities for human factors research and engineering. Had the software for the wire transfer undergone one or two rounds of formative human factors testing or an expert review, perhaps the high-stakes situation would have been resolved with ease. Although it would take away from the intensity of the movie scene, it would likely save our main character from sending money to the wrong person. Examples of human factors – or the lack thereof – are ever-present in our everyday lives, even in our entertainment. The following are a few more examples of products in movies where integrating human factors principles into the design process and conducting human factors research could have made all the difference: The Incredibles (2004) - In a memorable scene, the family is ch...