HFE Study UPDATED ACTUAL Exam
Questions and CORRECT Answers
Describe and explain the meaning of the four basic concepts in socio-technical design - The
following four components - CORRECT ANSWER - 1. The technical and social systems
are interdependent.
They influence each other, in both directions
2. There is a choice in the way in which technology itself
is designed.
3. There is a choice in the way one organizes round any
given technology. The choice will be influenced,
explicitly or implicitly, by values.
4.The work system is an open system
The miners from the book as example, worked closely as a group of 2-3 persons. One miner and
one foreman and one runner. The team relied on that the different persons did their job and often
the foreman and the miner could replace each other if someone was sick. This made the loyalty
very important. Developed in 1950 by Tavistock institute of human relations. Can be compared
as a combination between human relations school and with scientific management.
2. Albert Cherns defined a number of principles for design of socio-technical systems.
Discuss those and give examples how they can be used to support the HTO systems
perspective - CORRECT ANSWER - 1 Compability - The product needs to be designer so
it´s compatible with the other objectives
2 Minimal critical specification - Specify what should be done and not how.. Only the necessary
parts should be included.
3 Variance control - Any unprogrammed event where the social aspects is more of the supplier
quality of material.
,4 Boundary control - You more the members work on their own the more clearly the boundaries
needs to be.
5 Information flow - Control action and record are three important terms. the information flow
should be created of them who use it and should go directly to the person that need it to take it
further.
6 Power and authority - The people who work should have authority to demand the items they
need to get them and in return they should accept their responsibility to use them.
7 The multifunctional principle - Redundancy of parts should be replaced by
redundancy of function (multiskilling).
8 Support congruence - The supporting functions for a work should be provided in enough time.
Therefore planned.
9 Transitional organization - The treatment given to those who will leave or are
affected by changes should be compatible with the
aims of the change
10 Incompletion or the forth bridge principle - A change do not end in stability but is a bridge to
the next change.
Connect HTO: It will help the organization to set a clear structure either for a project or for the
organization and this will help the humans how to behave in the organization. Regarding
technical it gives suggestion how to build the product without giving them to much limitations.
3. Which general (psychological) factors characterize high quality work? - - CORRECT
ANSWER - Every worker knows his own job better than anyone else.
People can - and want to - accept responsibility for their own work
Intelligence, perspective and creativity can be found in employees at all levels of the
organization.
4. Describe and discuss the main features of the following HTO-models/concepts:
a. Porras' & Robertson's model for "Factors Constituting the Organizational Work
Setting" - CORRECT ANSWER - The OD model is a tool where you have science-based
theories, values strategies and techniques these will help the worker to improve and develop
himself and the organizational performance. It is very important, that the workers in a company
feel like they are developing and get recognized otherwise they will maybe leave.
, 5. What overarching goals are strived for within the discipline "ergonomics - CORRECT
ANSWER - The overarching goals is to in some way evaluate and make the process of the
person/thing that is involved. This by looking to the problem from a human standpoint.
"Ergonomics (or human factors) is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of
interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies
theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human wellbeing and overall
systems performance."
6. What types of different "benefits" can ergonomic improvements bring in a company? -
CORRECT ANSWER - It can help to lower the sick leave due to various pain and cramps.
It can also help to improve the production rate and effectiveness. It can help the people to get
happier due to better working conditions.
7. Why have cognitive aspects become more and more important when designing
technical systems? - CORRECT ANSWER - Because of the interaction between the
human and the technology. The technology gets more and more complex and for the basic human
to understand it, it needs to be more user friendly. Also, the information flow is increasing where
we need to get it sorted so we can understand the most important parts. Some examples:
information flow, abstraction level, interaction demands, complexity, work pace
"the term cognition refers to all processes by which the sensory input is transformed, reduced,
elaborated, stored, and used ... it is apparent that cognition is involved in everything a human
being might possibly do; that every psychological phenomena is a cognitive phenomena"
8. Which knowledge concerning the processing of information in the human brain can be
used to improve the design of components in an HTO-system and how? - CORRECT
ANSWER - The context and earlier experience affect our interpretation. Bild på kvinna
som kan ses som en piga från en vinkel och en äldre kvinna från ett annat håll.
9. Define what is characterizing a useful mental model of a technical system, how the
design should be made to facilitate for the user to create such a model and the
importance of this in an HTO-perspective? - CORRECT ANSWER - When we see
something, it needs to get our perception/attention, when it has gotten our attention, we become
Questions and CORRECT Answers
Describe and explain the meaning of the four basic concepts in socio-technical design - The
following four components - CORRECT ANSWER - 1. The technical and social systems
are interdependent.
They influence each other, in both directions
2. There is a choice in the way in which technology itself
is designed.
3. There is a choice in the way one organizes round any
given technology. The choice will be influenced,
explicitly or implicitly, by values.
4.The work system is an open system
The miners from the book as example, worked closely as a group of 2-3 persons. One miner and
one foreman and one runner. The team relied on that the different persons did their job and often
the foreman and the miner could replace each other if someone was sick. This made the loyalty
very important. Developed in 1950 by Tavistock institute of human relations. Can be compared
as a combination between human relations school and with scientific management.
2. Albert Cherns defined a number of principles for design of socio-technical systems.
Discuss those and give examples how they can be used to support the HTO systems
perspective - CORRECT ANSWER - 1 Compability - The product needs to be designer so
it´s compatible with the other objectives
2 Minimal critical specification - Specify what should be done and not how.. Only the necessary
parts should be included.
3 Variance control - Any unprogrammed event where the social aspects is more of the supplier
quality of material.
,4 Boundary control - You more the members work on their own the more clearly the boundaries
needs to be.
5 Information flow - Control action and record are three important terms. the information flow
should be created of them who use it and should go directly to the person that need it to take it
further.
6 Power and authority - The people who work should have authority to demand the items they
need to get them and in return they should accept their responsibility to use them.
7 The multifunctional principle - Redundancy of parts should be replaced by
redundancy of function (multiskilling).
8 Support congruence - The supporting functions for a work should be provided in enough time.
Therefore planned.
9 Transitional organization - The treatment given to those who will leave or are
affected by changes should be compatible with the
aims of the change
10 Incompletion or the forth bridge principle - A change do not end in stability but is a bridge to
the next change.
Connect HTO: It will help the organization to set a clear structure either for a project or for the
organization and this will help the humans how to behave in the organization. Regarding
technical it gives suggestion how to build the product without giving them to much limitations.
3. Which general (psychological) factors characterize high quality work? - - CORRECT
ANSWER - Every worker knows his own job better than anyone else.
People can - and want to - accept responsibility for their own work
Intelligence, perspective and creativity can be found in employees at all levels of the
organization.
4. Describe and discuss the main features of the following HTO-models/concepts:
a. Porras' & Robertson's model for "Factors Constituting the Organizational Work
Setting" - CORRECT ANSWER - The OD model is a tool where you have science-based
theories, values strategies and techniques these will help the worker to improve and develop
himself and the organizational performance. It is very important, that the workers in a company
feel like they are developing and get recognized otherwise they will maybe leave.
, 5. What overarching goals are strived for within the discipline "ergonomics - CORRECT
ANSWER - The overarching goals is to in some way evaluate and make the process of the
person/thing that is involved. This by looking to the problem from a human standpoint.
"Ergonomics (or human factors) is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of
interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies
theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human wellbeing and overall
systems performance."
6. What types of different "benefits" can ergonomic improvements bring in a company? -
CORRECT ANSWER - It can help to lower the sick leave due to various pain and cramps.
It can also help to improve the production rate and effectiveness. It can help the people to get
happier due to better working conditions.
7. Why have cognitive aspects become more and more important when designing
technical systems? - CORRECT ANSWER - Because of the interaction between the
human and the technology. The technology gets more and more complex and for the basic human
to understand it, it needs to be more user friendly. Also, the information flow is increasing where
we need to get it sorted so we can understand the most important parts. Some examples:
information flow, abstraction level, interaction demands, complexity, work pace
"the term cognition refers to all processes by which the sensory input is transformed, reduced,
elaborated, stored, and used ... it is apparent that cognition is involved in everything a human
being might possibly do; that every psychological phenomena is a cognitive phenomena"
8. Which knowledge concerning the processing of information in the human brain can be
used to improve the design of components in an HTO-system and how? - CORRECT
ANSWER - The context and earlier experience affect our interpretation. Bild på kvinna
som kan ses som en piga från en vinkel och en äldre kvinna från ett annat håll.
9. Define what is characterizing a useful mental model of a technical system, how the
design should be made to facilitate for the user to create such a model and the
importance of this in an HTO-perspective? - CORRECT ANSWER - When we see
something, it needs to get our perception/attention, when it has gotten our attention, we become
