Human factors engineering that makes a difference: leveraging a science of societal change

The over-arching purpose of human factors engineering is to improve the quality of human life, but our discipline has not been as successful as we would like in effecting societal change, whether it be at the political or corporate level. The current paper addresses this problem, first by identifying a set of general challenges to change, and second by reviewing three illustrative theories of the processes behind large-scale societal change. Kingdon's (1984/2003 Kingdon, JW. 1984/2003. Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, 2nd, New York: Longman. [Google Scholar]) work on agenda setting explains how ideas get onto the political radar. Birkland's (1997 Birkland, TA. 1997. After Disaster: Agenda Setting, Public Policy, and Focusing Events, Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. [Google Scholar]) research on focusing events shows how accidents can be exploited to foster policy change. Tushman and Romanelli's (1985 Tushman, ML and Romanelli, E. 1985. “Organizational evolution: A metamorphosis model of convergence and reorientation”. In Research in Organizational Behavior, Edited by: Cummings, L.L. and Staw, B.M. Vol. 7, 171–222. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. [Google Scholar]) work on punctuated equilibrium theory illustrates how market forces and environmental disruptions can be manipulated to encourage radical corporate change. These research programs have largely unappreciated ‘design’ implications that human factors engineers can adopt to increase the likelihood of improving the fit between people and technology in the service of humankind.