"A chair should be judged by one’s pants, a jewel by the light in a lady’s eyes, a typewriter by the hovering fingers."

Time Magazine, On good design, 12th January 1959

When this was written, the study of human-machine interaction from a psychological perspective was in its infancy. Today, nearly 50 years later, we have a greater understanding of human interactions with technology and complex systems, and the associated design issues. This is in part due to the growing discipline of Human Factors psychology, which is also known as Ergonomics.


The work carried out by the Human Factors Group at the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Bristol, UK focuses on studying and understanding people's behaviour when they interact with systems and with other humans via systems. These 'systems' have tended to be advanced and emerging technologies.


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