Everyone has a boss, even a CEO has a board that governs the top executive leader of a company. This is no different for design orgs; For design leaders this means understanding what it means to make your boss be successful while bringing the voice of the customer to the table. A design org could report into the CMO, COO, CPO, CTO and in some unique situations to the CEO. In all of these instances the objectives of the leaders can determine design org’s focus and outcomes. This may very well determine what it feels like to have a “seat at the table” or not. What does it take to elevate UX/CX to a high-level position from which it participates in the process of making decisions about the design of experiences? In his talk, TS Balaji will take a deep dive into what to do and what not to do in order to establish and maintain UX/CX as a function that is considered in corporate decisions that drive strategy and ultimately experiences for their customers and users. A key to success is looking outward while considering why a superior user experience is important and how it contributes to the mission of the company. The answers, in turn, must be constructed in the language understood by principal decision makers, and in many instances, you may use design to help achieve the objectives of the principal decision makers. Making your presence at the decision table to be persistent requires continuous research, experimentation and commitment to discover changing experiences needed by users and customers.

The Titans of The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Virtual Symposium is a showcase of some of the premier researchers, practitioners, and academicians in HFES. These speakers will present on the foundational areas of the science of human factors and ergonomics and will provide their insights into the future of Human Factors/Ergonomics.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), often stemming from ergonomic risk factors, are the largest category of workplace injuries in the United States. According to the 2021 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index, overexertion injuries (lifting, pushing, pulling, holding, or carrying objects) are the leading cause for disabling work-related injuries, costing businesses more than $58 billion every year. Additionally, according to NSC Injury Facts, in 2020, the U.S. private sector experienced 247,620 MSD injuries or illnesses resulting in days away from work. To address the significant risk of MSDs, the National Safety Council joined with a major industry partner in 2021 and created the MSD Solutions Lab. In this session, NSC researchers from the MSD Solutions Lab will provide an overview of the initiative and discuss work to date, including the outcome of their scoping review on MSD literature in identifying the challenges for research, innovation, and collaboration, and the building of an index for tracking organization performance to support research into practice. In summary, this session will highlight the MSD Solutions Lab initiatives by discussing current work and plans for future innovation, research, and practice to help ensure that all workplaces are free from MSDs and MSD risk so workers can thrive on and off the clock.

The better the automated systems are, the lower the situation awareness of the human operators and the less likely that they will be able to take over manual control when needed. This is one of the ironies of automation. At the same time, automated systems are rapidly growing in popularity in the oil and gas sector due to their many advantages, from reducing mistakes to improving efficiency. However, as the science from situation awareness has found, these systems introduce new challenges and risks. As a kickoff to the new MOU between the Society of Petroleum Engineers Human Factors Technical Section (SPE-HFTS) and HFES, two panelists—Dr. Mica Endsley and Dr. Marcin Nazaruk—will discuss how the science of situation awareness can be applied and translated to the complexities of the oil and gas sector. Dr. Endsley will introduce the “human-autonomy systems oversight model” presented in her paper, From Here to Autonomy. This was developed based on several decades of applied research that includes out-of-the-loop performance problems, monitoring, and trust, among many others. Dr. Nazaruk will present some of the design challenges in the oil and gas sector, which are currently being addressed through automation. The webinar will provide an opportunity to discover and discuss some key solutions for reducing the risk of human performance issues when interacting with autonomous systems, such as human-automation interface features, central automation interaction paradigms comprising levels of automation, adaptive automation, and granularity of control approaches.

Join a panel of mid- and senior-level career professionals who will share concerning: - Their paths to Human Factors, Ergonomics, and UX; - Glimpses into their day-to-day; - And advice for students/early-career professionals. Panelists: - Limor Hochberg, Bose - Shannon Kay O Brien, Thompson Reuters - Deborah Bowles, Target - Eileen Kohn, US Bank - Janet Creaser, Medtronic - Moderator: Adam Schwartz, Jamf