About 3 minutes
Human factors is the study of how people interact with tools, tasks, environments, and one another. It asks how a system can fit human abilities and limits. The same question applies to a medical device, a workplace procedure, a phone app, or a sign at a transit station.
It is easy to explain a mistake by saying that someone should have paid closer attention. A human factors view asks what information the person had, what the task demanded, how the interface behaved, and what pressures shaped the decision. This shifts attention from blame alone to the conditions that made an error likely.
Consider a medication label with two similar names in small type. A reader may be careful and still struggle to tell them apart. Clearer typography, distinct naming, and a checking step can change the conditions in which the decision happens. The point is to design for real use, including distraction, time pressure, and varied experience.
Human factors draws from psychology, engineering, ergonomics, design, and related fields. Its value comes from looking at the whole interaction: the person, the task, the technology, and the setting. That perspective can make systems more usable, safer, and easier to understand.