As with all professions, evidence-based practice is extremely important to the integrity of the profession. Therefore, knowing where to find evidence to support practice is valuable for improving human factors concerns that impact health and safety. This exercise is intended to help you practice your research skills and to give all students a brief overview of some of the research being conducted in the field of Human Factors (aka Ergonomics). Furthermore, this exercise may also serve as a useful starting point for the other assessments. Your task is to do the following:

• Post a review of one (1) research article that no other student has reviewed (word limit 150)
• Reply to three (3) of your colleagues to extend the discussion topic (word limit 100 each)
• Ensure you make one contribution in each of the four domain forums
• In total, you will have made four (4) contributions, one in each domain forum
• References (not included in the word count)

While not assessed, you are free to respond to feedback provided to you by another student. The four domain forums for this assessment item are:

• Discipline of Human Factors (aka Ergonomics)
• Physical Ergonomics
• Cognitive Ergonomics
• Organisational Ergonomics 

To post your research article review, start a new topic and provide the citation of the article in the topic header, e.g. (Smith 2017). This will make it easier to know which articles have been reviewed. Your post should include:

• The research article review (aim/problem, methods, results, conclusions)
• A complete reference and publication DOI number
  
• The attached article (pdf)

The reply posts should meaningfully add to the topic. To do this you may:

• Relate a personal experience, or
• Extend the topic by sharing another study, news story, or other source (cite and include references where appropriate)

Note: all reviewed articles must be published in a journal. Therefore, do not review chapters, books, white papers, conference papers, workbooks, handbooks, and the like. However, these items are acceptable in a reply post where appropriate.

The review post (16 marks):

• The aim of the study/article (2 mark)
• The human interaction problem being investigated (2 mark)
• The research method used (4 marks)
• The research findings and conclusions drawn (4 marks)
• Reference and DOI number (3 marks)
• Article attached (1 mark)

The meaningful reply (3 marks each):

• Adds meaningfully to the discussion
• References included where appropriate

An important skill of human factors experts is to identify work tasks that present Musculoskeletal Disorder (MSD) risks. This assignment is about developing your understanding of the principles of assessment for human-task interactions while at work. You are required to identify a manual handling task that involves a two-handed lift. You are required to conduct a hierarchical task analysis and then to assess the task being carried out using two different human factors analytical tools. You must use the Revised NIOSH Lifting Equation and another suitable tool (e.g. RULA, REBA, ...). From the findings of your analyses you are to offer redesign recommendations. Your work is to be presented in a scientific poster abstract format. The poster should incorporate design principles to achieve low cognitive load for the viewer. The poster is to be suitable for display at a conference to inform delegates of the physical task you have assessed.

Your poster should contain the following:

• Describes the context of the workplace or other setting 
• Identifies who is at risk (stakeholders)
• Describes the task being performed 
• Identifies the MSD risk and when it arises during the task
• Discusses the significance of the risk 
• Redesigns the task to reduce the MSD risks found 
• Reference list contains scholarly articles that are appropriately referenced 

Poster content:

• Identifies context of workplace and/or other setting and people involved (2 marks)
• Describes the task being assessed (2 marks)
• Conducts a hierarchical task analysis (2 marks)
• Assesses the MSD risk using two appropriate human factors analytical tools (6 marks)
• Discusses the significance of the risk (2 marks)
• Redesigns the task to reduce the MSD risks found (4 marks)
• Reference list contains scholarly articles that are appropriately referenced (2 marks)

Poster design:

• Utilises human factors design principles to enhance swift comprehension of the message portrayed (e.g. low cognitive load, colour, placement, imagery, etc.) (5 marks)

This project has three main objectives:

• to develop leadership and project management skills relevant to design projects
• to redesign a product with a usability problem
• to develop reflective practice

You are required to complete the following tasks:

• Team project plan (20 marks: due Friday [27/04/18] Week 7 at 11:45 pm AEST)
• Team concept proposal (60 marks: due Friday [01/06/18] Week 12 at 11:45 pm AEST)
• Individual reflections (20 marks: due Friday [01/06/18] Week 12 at 11:45 pm AEST)

Team project plan

As a team, you are to develop a team project plan to establish lines of communication and rules of process. Before developing the project plan, you are required to complete an individual team role test that is provided on our unit website. The results from this test will be used to form your team and help you build your team profile. Details about forming teams will be provided on the unit website. The project plan is to contain:

• Team profile (team leader and other roles)
• Communication details and arrangements
• Tentative schedule of tasks and responsibilities
• Issues resolution plan (that does not involve the Unit Coordinator)
• Word range: 1000 to 1500 words

Team concept proposal

As a team, you are to prepare and submit online one Concept Proposal. Your task is to find a usability problem with a product (i.e. problematic human-machine interaction) and to apply human factors design principles and tools to assess the usability problem. Based on study findings, your team is to propose redesign changes to the product to improve usability in the form of a Redesign Concept Proposal. The proposal should include:

• Title page
• Executive summary
• Significance of the usability problem
• Methods
• Results and Discussion
• Problem definition statement
• Redesign options
• Justification and details of chosen concept (including, technical drawings and materials costing)
• References
• Appendices (if necessary)
• Word range: 3000 to 4000 words

Individual Reflections

As individuals, you are required to reflect on your teamwork experience by (1) answering two questions and by (2) reviewing your peers' contribution to the teamwork effort. Your reflections are to be completed on the Individual Reflections form available on the unit website. Please submit online by the due date to avoid a late penalty. The word range for reflections is 300 to 400 words. The two questions to be answered are:

1. How did you help create a productive team effort?
2. What will you do differently in future teamwork events?

Team Project Plan (20 marks)

• Team profile (team leader and other roles) (5 marks)
• Communication details and arrangements (5 marks)
• Tentative schedule of tasks and responsibilities (5 marks)
• Issues resolution plan (that does not involve the Unit Coordinator) (5 marks)

Team Concept Proposal (60 marks)

• Integrates principles of human capability and limitations (physical and mental) (10 marks)
• Analyses the usability problem including the environment of use (10 marks)
• Develops a suitable problem definition statement (10 marks)
• Systematically evaluates potential concept solutions (10 marks)
• Develops a redesign concept that meets the problem definition from a human and technical perspective (10 marks)
• Format is consistent with a professional concept proposal in that it contains all relevant parts, is logically argued, structured appropriately, clearly expressed, and void of grammatical and referencing errors (10 marks)

Individual reflections (20 marks)

• Response demonstrates depth of thought (10 marks)
• Average score from the peer review process (10 marks)