Human Factors International

Human Factors International
Name	Human Factors International
Type	Private
Founded	1991
Founder	Dr. Eric Schaffer
Headquarters	New Jersey, United States
Industry	Usability consulting, User experience, Human–computer interaction

Human Factors International is a user experience and usability consulting firm founded in 1991 focused on improving interaction design, information architecture, and accessibility for digital products. The company provides consulting, certification, training, and software tools to enterprises across sectors including finance, healthcare, telecommunications, and government. Over decades it has engaged with multinational corporations, technology vendors, and public institutions to apply evidence-based usability practices and human-centered design.

History

Human Factors International was established in 1991 by Dr. Eric Schaffer after work in usability and human–computer interaction at universities and research centers. Early engagements connected the firm with clients in Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and the pharmaceutical sector, leading to collaborations with entities associated with Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bell Labs, AT&T, and IBM. Expansion through the 1990s and 2000s saw offices and partnerships tied to markets involving New York City, London, Singapore, Sydney, and Toronto. The company’s growth paralleled industry developments around standards such as those from World Wide Web Consortium, regulations tied to Americans with Disabilities Act, and enterprise initiatives similar to projects at Bank of America, Pfizer, UnitedHealth Group, and McKesson Corporation. Leadership and advisors have included professionals with backgrounds connected to institutions like Carnegie Mellon University, National Institutes of Health, Bellcore, and Northeastern University.

Services and Products

The firm offers consulting services that encompass user research, usability testing, information architecture, interaction design, and accessibility audits for clients comparable to Microsoft, Oracle Corporation, SAP SE, and Cisco Systems. Product offerings have included design templates, UX measurement tools, and certification programs used by teams at organizations similar to Procter & Gamble, General Electric, Unilever, and Siemens. The company’s services integrate with enterprise systems from vendors including Salesforce, IBM WebSphere, Adobe Systems, and Google Cloud Platform. For public-sector engagements, projects have been aligned with agencies resembling U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Health Service, European Commission, and Australian Digital Transformation Agency.

Methodologies and Training

Training programs emphasize human-centered design, usability engineering, heuristic evaluation, and user-centered design processes influenced by standards from International Organization for Standardization and guidelines aligned with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Courses include certified curricula comparable to certifications from Interaction Design Foundation and methods taught at programs like those at Georgia Institute of Technology and University of Washington. Methodologies deploy mixed methods drawn from ethnography traditions at Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology and experimental methods used at Bell Labs Research, leveraging tools and protocols comparable to those in Nielsen Norman Group, IDEO, and Frog Design. Corporate training clients have included teams at HP, Accenture, Deloitte, and PwC.

Key Projects and Clients

Notable engagements span sectors: financial platforms for institutions like JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs; healthcare portals for organizations akin to Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic; telecommunications interfaces for companies similar to Verizon Communications and Vodafone; and retail experiences for chains comparable to Walmart and Target Corporation. Large-scale intranet and portal redesigns echo projects seen at Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and General Motors. Public-sector collaborations mirror work with ministries and departments such as United States Postal Service, Health Canada, and municipal governments like City of New York and City of London. International assignments have involved partners in markets represented by Alibaba Group, Tencent, NTT Communications, and SoftBank Group.

Research and Publications

The organization has produced white papers, case studies, and methodological guides addressing usability metrics, conversion optimization, and accessibility remediations, published in venues and conferences similar to CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, UXPA International Conference, and industry forums tied to ACM SIGCHI. Research themes overlap with scholarship from Donald Norman, Jakob Nielsen, and institutions like MIT Media Lab and Stanford d.school. Publications often reference standards and guidelines associated with W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and testing approaches paralleling methods at Qualcomm Research and Microsoft Research. Case studies have been cited in practitioner handbooks and textbooks used at universities such as Columbia University and Princeton University.

Awards and Recognition

The firm and its practitioners have received industry recognition in contexts comparable to awards granted by UXPA, design competitions associated with Red Dot Design Award, Good Design Award, and accolades from business publications like Forbes and Fast Company. Projects have been shortlisted in competitions where entrants include Apple Inc., Google LLC, and IDEO. Executive leaders have been invited to speak at events hosted by organizations such as SXSW, TEDx, and Web Summit.

Category:User experience companies