User interface design: are human factors principles used?

ABSTRACT

In the days when computer systems were used primarily by people with technical backgrounds, human factors, if considered at all, were treated as a backroom activity---something to be done after the design and implementation had been completed. We are now in an era in which computer hardware and software are consumer items. Computer users range from school kids to adults and from non-technical office professionals to software engineers. In today's environment, computer companies, especially those who sell software, must offer products that are effective and easy to use to be successful in the marketplace.

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