A Case Study of Using Human Factors Analyses on Warnings

On occasion defects appear in products after some period of use. Often, the products have been distributed to many unknown individuals requiring a program to inform them of the hazardous defect. In this study a comparison is made between two warning programs one of which did not utilize good human factors principles (considering them too academic) and a second which concerned itself with the problem of notifying individuals of an unknown and potentially deadly hazard. An analysis of the human factors principles involved in such programs was performed. The human factors principles were discussed in terms of the failures of the one program to reach the target audience with information in an acceptable form. In addition, the procedures for developing an adequate warnings program are described and the techniques for testing the warnings with individuals who are akin to the target audience were presented.