Human factors is an applied field of study at the crossroads of psychology, engineering, and computing that examines human abilities, limitations, behaviors, and processes in order to inform human-centered design.
The Bachelor of Science in Human Factors at Michigan Tech—one of the first of its kind in the nation—develops confident, tech-focused problem solvers adept at optimizing the interaction between humans and various systems, products, systems, and environments. As a human factors professional, your primary goal will be to enhance the usability, safety, and efficiency of these systems by considering the capabilities and limitations of human users. You’ll join a growing field with exciting career opportunities in business, government, and academia.
What is Human Factors?
Discover how to improve systems, technology, or tools to reduce human error and increase safety and productivity. In our research labs, students work on addressing these problems, often in interdisciplinary teams.
One hundred percent of human factors students participate in undergraduate research. Earn credit or get paid as a research assistant on projects involving driving simulators, video game consoles, artificial intelligence, and eye-tracking systems. Plus, gain real-world experience with Michigan Tech’s Enterprise Program, working on real projects for real clients.
All human factors students will select an interdisciplinary technical concentration. Focusing your effort in a concentration allows you to specialize and align with a future career interest, increasing your chances of securing a job or continuing onto graduate studies post-graduation.
Plus, concentrations make it easier to add a minor without increasing your time at Michigan Tech. (Note that completing a concentration does not, alone, complete a minor; students who choose to pursue an aligned minor may need to use some free electives or general education courses to do so.) All technical concentrations include foundational courses in programming to prepare students to work and communicate effectively in tech fields.
This engineering-oriented concentration area focuses on developing students’ ability to analyze complex problems, construct low-fidelity systems models, and use a dynamic systems model to make appropriate design decisions. This concentration is aligned with Michigan Tech’s minor in systems engineering.
This computer science-oriented concentration equips students with the skills to create intuitive and user-friendly digital interfaces. This minor is aligned with Michigan Tech’s minor in computer science.
This concentration prepares students to drive innovation and create user-centric solutions through a curriculum focused on marketing, consumer behavior, design thinking, and business applications. This concentration is aligned with Michigan Tech’s Business and Enterprise minors.
Of course, human factors principles can be applied across a number of disciplines and applications. If the above concentrations don’t fit your interest and you’d like to pursue a different concentration, speak to your advisor.
Schedule a Virtual Meeting
A world moving at a faster pace and increasingly reliant on technology requires human factors professionals to make that technology work better with humans. You’ll have opportunities to solve real-world problems, such as improving the user experience of websites and apps or everyday products like automobiles and mobile devices; making medical instruments and devices safer to use; creating ergonomic workstations to reduce user fatigue and injury. A degree in human factors opens doors in business, non-profits, academia, government, and more.
Some of the jobs open to you with a BS in Human Factors:
Thousands of companies hire human factors professionals, with many hiring dozens, if not hundreds each year. These are just some of the companies hiring human factors majors:
Amazon
Apple
Boeing
Ford Motor Company
Garmin
GE Aerospace
GE Healthcare
Google
Instagram
Lowe’s
Medtronic
Samsung
Target
Tesla
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Veterans Health Administration
Human Factors Career Resources
Request Information
Schedule a Visit
Apply Now
BS—Human Factors-General
BS—Human Factors-Systems Thinking and Design Concentration
BS—Human Factors-Human Computer Interface Design Concentration
BS—Human Factors-Innovation and Human-Centered Design Concentration
Assistant Teaching Professor, Cognitive and Learning Sciences
Ready to take the next step?
Learn more about studying human factors at Michigan’s flagship technological university.
Request Info
Schedule a Visit
Apply Now
Be at the crossroads of psychology, engineering, and computing in a major that examines human abilities, limitations, behaviors, and processes in order to inform human-centered design. You’ll become an integrator making an impact. Improve systems, technology, or tools to reduce human error and increase safety and productivity. Collaborate with engineers and others in different STEM fields on a variety of research projects.
Not sure which major is the right fit? No problem.
Just declare the General Sciences and Arts major,
give yourself time, and decide when you arrive on campus. To learn more speak to an academic advisor.
Specialize in a secondary discipline outside of or complementary to your major, expand your knowledge base, and boost your potential career options with a psychology minor. Want a future career in law or medicine? A minor in a pre-professional program such as Law and Society or Pre-Health prepares you for graduate school. Or choose any of the other 80+ minors. Although you can declare a minor anytime, we recommend that you begin your minor studies as early as possible in your academic career. To learn more speak to an academic advisor.
Human factors professionals do a lot of things, but there’s one thing we do first and foremost: we help people. As technology advances and becomes more and more prevalent in our daily lives, we use our analytic and problem solving skills to ensure new technologies continue to work for and with us to create human-centered solutions in transportation, health care, energy, and more—much more. Become a human factors professional who is ready for what tomorrow needs.
I chose human factors because I am interested in designing better products for the future. Doing so will save users from the headache of a poorly designed product or application.
About The Author
More Stories
From Email to Case Study: What We Learned About Connecting Refugee Communities in Just One Year
Local Infrastructure, Lower Costs: How Peering Is Moving the Needle on Internet Affordability
On Global Accessibility Awareness Day, An Internet for Everyone Must Include Everyone