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Reports, documents, information...
- Applied psychology, human factors, and ergonomics
- Do displays in museums and historic sites speak or are they mute? A coast-to-coast study of period rooms and historic sites for Parks Canada led to these conclusions. 11pp.
- Energy conservation based on feedback
is one of the great ideas from psychology. The power utility of
Portland, Oregon, tried an experiment with this technology. 30pp.
- What's the best way to present weather information?
This large study with a national sample investigates how people
understand public weather forecasts. Sadly, the "wind chill" concept,
among our recommendations, has been widely abused. 37pp.
- This is the Jitter Factors List.
Got a new device, system, program, vehicle, food.... Wondering if your
new users and customers will be jittery about trying it? Have a peek at
how people reckon risk, that is perceived or subjective risk. 2pp.
- Communications, electronic and otherwise
- Telidon
and similar graphics-oriented transmission systems were the forerunner
of the Internet. About 25 years ago, we conducted a mammoth evaluation
of the usability of these systems and found the human problems also
were the forerunners of the Internet problems. 10pp.
- Safety and survival
- Arctic survival for sailors, a cold test of survival gear during February on Resolute Bay. 15pp.
- High-voltage powerline maintainers have a culture that leads to risky behaviour. 25pp.
- Nuclear safety and building construction defects(report
to a commision on nuclear safety, 15 pp.) So I said to my client, "We
ought to have a control group of buildings
that have zero defects... like nuclear power plants." Funny thing, we
were delighted to find that general construction buildings had no more
defects than nuclear power plants. And that's also the bad news, eh.
A better formatted but condensed version of the original National Research Council report is also available, 6 pp.
- "Pre-literate" kids need to understand signs and warnings on high-voltage locations. Kids were tested for their understanding of the warning. 12pp.
- Stair accidents.
This is a summary of one of the largest studies ever conducted into the
causes of accidents in private, public, and commercial spaces. The
causes of falls are explained. 6pp.
- Transportation and accessibility
- Airplane
passenger safety briefings.
This study greatly improved the ability of people to understand and
remember safety briefing instructions. Also, briefings were made better
for people with disabilities. 62pp.
- An
accessible train station. The features that make a train
station accessible are outlined. 35pp.
- Bicycle route guidance and tests of signage. We showed that young
bicyclists as well as experienced licensed
drivers confuse a significant percentage of traffic
safety signs and graphic symbols. The
study was designed to formulate guidelines, including devices
and systems, for the operation and design of bicycle facilities. This study was selected at best
study of 1998 by the ITE. 26pp.
- Bus design for transit should be based on the wishes of customers. We conducted focus groups across the country. 65pp.
- Can blind pedestrians benefit from spoken orientation directions in public places? This report addresses that question. 29pp.
- Car
pooling. ride sharing, and hitch-hiking. What are the factors that lead to
setting up a car pool and to the longevity of it? Also, hitch-hiking, a
special case of ad hoc car
pooling is tested. This is a Transportation Research Board paper. 9pp.
- Inter-city
bus travel accessibility.
This is a presentation for the Transportation Research Board of a major
study to enlarge bus travel access for riders with hearing, vision,
and cognition impairments. 12pp.
- Pedestrian
movement.
As the biggest pedestrian event ever held in Canada, about a million
guests attended the mass conducted by Pope John Paul II as part of
World Youth Day. 12pp.
- Smart vehicle and highway systems can benefit elderly and disabled drivers. Drivers were interviewed for Transport Canada and several presentations were made. 45pp.
All our past reports are archived in our library. Not all reports
can be shared with all parties but many can be. If you have seen
another report referenced, we may be able to print, duplicate or scan
it for you and at a nominal cost.
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