When people think about human factors, they often think of the most dramatic incidents of human error, such as the nuclear accidents at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island or the 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling rig disaster. However, human factors also addresses the everyday - everything from hitting the snooze button in the morning to operating a surgical tool in the operating room.

Often, use errors created by poor human factors are annoyances that require workarounds, and could drive your user to your competitor. However, in healthcare and personal safety use errors can create life-threatening risks. Due to the severity of this kind of risk, regulatory agencies are now enforcing comprehensive consideration of human behaviors in their certification processes. The FDA has become a proponent of more stringent human factors with its adoption of the guidelines in AAMI HE75 Human Factors Engineering - Design of Medical Devices and IEC 62366:2007 Medical Devices - Application of Usability Engineering to Medical Devices.

At Daedalus, we consider the body (ergonomics) and the mind (human information processing). We create interfaces that are efficient to use and also reduce or eliminate the likelihood of errors. Our staff includes designers, human machine interface specialists, and a cognitive psychologist.

Many ergonomic issues can be researched and resolved using our broad library of anthropometric data. However, other cognitive and interactive issues are addressed with research, testing, and recommendation. Our in-house facilities support the construction of specialized research environments with multi-camera digital video and audio for recording activities for review from several angles and in slow motion to help identify the roots of problems that may otherwise go unreported. We use experience, research, and expertise to identify opportunities and generate innovative solutions.