About this Topic

This topic was originally created by the IST Solutions Institute in the College of Information Sciences and Technology.  It was a collaborative effort between members of the Solutions Institute and the faculty of the College of IST.

Have you ever considered the importance of the design of an interface? The study and application of human computer interaction (HCI) and human factors is very important and can actually save lives. For example, interfaces that allow nurses to type in the digits of a drug dose are much more dangerous than the interfaces that force the nurse to dial the dose in using a wheel for each digit. When typing, a repeated digit can increase the dosage of medication by a factor of ten and can result in severe complications or even death to the patient. This mistake is not possible with the other dial-based interface.