Technology and the Diversity of Limits

Students should work by themselves to answer the following questions. When they are done, you might give them time to discuss their ideas in their teams or as a class.

1. Human factors are one type of constraint. Why do you think studying human factors is important for designing technology?

   Human factors will always play a role in technology design because humans use technology. Everyone has limitations, and engineers must consider the human factors that will affect the use of their designs. Although there are generally other constraints to consider, human factors will always play a role in technology use.

2. Think back to your team’s airplane designs. Which human factors affected the designs?

   Students may have different ideas. They may think about how hard someone can throw the airplane or what size the person’s hands are so that they make the airplane an appropriate size. Students may also consider what experience they have had making airplanes in the past (a mental characteristic). You might use this question as a formative assessment to make sure that students understand what human factors are and how they can affect designs.

3. Write a summary paragraph to describe what you have learned so far in this chapter. Use the following words and their definitions in your paragraph: criteria, constraints, diversity, and human factors.

   One example of a student paragraph follows: “Engineers consider criteria and constraints as they design products. Criteria are the goals a designer is trying to meet. Constraints are other things that affect the goals, such as money or materials. The more criteria and constraints there are, the less diversity there will be in designs. When there are fewer criteria and constraints, engineers can be more creative with their designs. Human factors are one type of constraint that engineers must consider. These are physical, mental, or behavioral characteristics that affect how a person will be able to use a product.”

4. In your technology notebook, add any new information you learned in the last two activities to your answer to the focus question.

   Students will likely be able to add information about criteria, constraints, and human factors to their answers. They should recognize that more criteria and constraints lead to less diversity in designs, whereas fewer criteria and constraints allow for more creativity.