This course will introduce the basic concepts of human factors and demonstrate the importance of understanding and considering human capabilities and limits in product and system design. This will include an overview of both cognitive and physical human characteristics, methods to analyze human factors constraints, and design methods for prototyping and evaluating the usability of physical products and systems. In this course individual- and team-based design projects are used to emphasize the integration between human factors analysis and evaluation, authoring design requirements and translating these to both physical products and systems. Prerequisites: DESIGN 1, DESIGN DESIGN 11, and DESIGN DESIGN 121. Strongly recommended: DESIGN DESIGN 172, ME 102, Psych 1. It is a required class for undergrad design majors. This class is for design students only.
4 units · Letter (ABCD/NP)
This course will introduce the basic concepts of human factors and demonstrate the importance of understanding and considering human capabilities and limits in product and system design. This will include an overview of both cognitive and physical human characteristics, methods to analyze human factors constraints, and design methods for prototyping and evaluating the usability of physical products and systems. In this course individual- and team-based design projects are used to emphasize the integration between human factors analysis and evaluation, authoring design requirements and translating these to both physical products and systems. Prerequisites: DESIGN 1, DESIGN 11, and DESIGN 121. Strongly recommended: DESIGN 172, ME102, Psych 1. It is a required class for undergrad design majors. This class is for design students only.
Offered in Winter 2026 at Stanford University.