John Flach works in engineering psychology, the study of how people and the systems they operate fit together. Mark “Moose” McGrath and I asked him how design shapes what a pilot perceives and decides.
Where the field began
John traces the origins of engineering psychology. He tells the story of John Denver’s fatal crash, where design constraints in an experimental aircraft played a part. We talk about human-centered and use-centered design and the role of situational awareness.
Control and affordances
The conversation moves to control systems and cybernetics and their impact on science. John walks us through James Gibson’s work on affordances, which treats the world in terms of what it lets us do. We look at optic flow and flight control. The environment can distort a pilot’s sense of speed, with deadly results.
Back to Boyd
John reflects on how the Wright brothers approached aircraft design and solved problems through action. We close on neuroscience, Boyd’s work, synergy and channeling action toward a shared objective.
Perception and action shape each other, and orientation sits between them. John brings decades of research to that idea.
Where does the design of your tools shape what your people can see?
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