Square pegs and round holes: human factors integration in a world of constraints

The quality of human factors integration at engineering project level is often only as good as the opportunity presents; that is, where constraints are placed on design, an HF expert is often reliant more on compromise and the... [ view full abstract ]

The quality of human factors integration at engineering project level is often only as good as the opportunity presents; that is, where constraints are placed on design, an HF expert is often reliant more on compromise and the creative application of first principles than having the luxury to establish the ultimate in best practice design. This paper presents a case study of human factors integration illustrated through the design of a back-up train control facility and a new train control workstation, both outputs of a major rail engineering project in Melbourne, Australia. The control room was intended as a backup facility capable of taking over operations in the event of evacuation of the main operational train control centre; a controller workstation that enabled flexible operations was required to fit out the backup centre and would eventually replace all existing desks within the primary control room. Human factors input was provided as part of the design process, from the initial identification of user requirements through to architectural design development, end-user testing and post-fit out evaluation. The level of influence by the human factors consultant was tempered by a number of constraints including the building architectural design, restrictions to the new workstation dimensions, and the need to incorporate features of the existing control room and workstation as a minimum in order to meet with expectations of the very vocal end users. The paper will explore a range of some of these challenges and describe how they were addressed in a way that still enabled a useful human factors contribution to the design. The resulting control room and operational workstation were able to effectively meet stakeholder requirements in providing a functional work environment and train controller interface. The focus on human factors as part of the design process was critical in enabling this.