[1] As an applied field of psychology and an interdisciplinary part of ergonomics, it aims to improve the relationships between people and machines by redesigning equipment, interactions, or the environment in which they take place.
[4] In Britain, the two world wars generated much formal study of human factors which affected the efficiency of munitions output and warfare.
[3] Another example involves the cumulative trauma disorders grocery checkout workers suffered as the result of repetitive wrist movements using electronic scanners.
Engineering psychologists found that the optimal checkout station design would allow for workers to easily use either hand to distribute the workload between both wrists.
[9] Similarly, many topics in ergonomics deal with the actual science of matching man to equipment and encompasses narrower fields such as engineering psychology.
[2] Human factors involve interdisciplinary scientific research and studies to seek to realize greater recognition and understanding of the worker's characteristics, needs, abilities, and limitations when the procedures and products of technology are being designed.
Human factors is broader than engineering psychology, which is focused specifically on designing systems that accommodate the information-processing capabilities of the brain.
[1] Engineering psychologists contribute to the design of a variety of products, including dental and surgical tools, cameras, toothbrushes and car-seats.