The term “life hack” has become pretty mainstream as of late. Looking at the genesis of the life hack, it seems like it’s nothing more than a way to turn something that isn’t all that usable, into something that is. To me, that sounds like a pretty simple way of...
Read More
The clocks are changing this weekend. Daylight savings and the semi-annual changing of time always reminds me of the one time, in 1988, when I almost missed my plane due to human error. The “human” meaning, of course, me. I arrived for my flight with more than an hour to...
Read More
A U.S. Marine makes his way through a challenging crawl obstacle – one of many that influenced the development of the LEAP system.
Mini-Series Part 2: The Bathroom A few weeks ago, I started this blog mini-series on human factors (HF) considerations in renovations. By and large, Part 1 covered kitchen concepts. This edition – Part 2 – covers the bathroom. The bathroom, like it or not, is the most important room of...
Read More
Recently I heard about yet another tragic death of someone falling onto a subway track. It amazes me that this still happens and that no sure-fire preventative measures are out there to eliminate these senseless deaths. Not too long afterward, I had cause to use the free train provided from...
Read More
As a company we believe that people are the most important part of any system. As a result, we usually strive to make systems easier, safer, and more comfortable for human users. However, it’s not always that straightforward. Sometimes, you may want a system to be easily accessible to one...
Read More
Mini-Series Part 1: The Kitchen Long before I worked at HSI®, a human factors (HF) research consulting firm, I paid the bills by working at a kitchen and bath showroom. Laugh as you might (my friends certainly did), I was the go-to person for anything from self-opening toilet seats, air...
Read More
After an intense bid submission process, and a few weeks eagerly awaiting an award announcement from Public Works and Government Services Canada, we learned last week that we are the winning team for the newest Human Factors Engineering Support RFP for the Director Soldier Systems Project Management (DSSPM). This contract...
Read More
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) have posted a video on YouTube promoting Defence Research and Development Canada’s CAN-LEAP combat mobility course. This course was developed by HSI® in conjunction with the United States Marine Corps (USMC), by using feedback from operations to design realistic obstacles with advanced sensors to quantify...
Read More
In military research and development, we often come across equipment specifications that have to be met to resolve technical issues and keep pace with the capabilities of other nations. Because new and exciting technologies are developed at an unprecedented rate, it’s easy to focus on the technological attributes of new...
Read More
