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Human Factors Expert Witnesses

Human factors questions sit at the center of many commercial disputes because products, systems, and workplaces succeed or fail based on how people actually use them. Manufacturers and retailers litigate whether product designs, warnings, and instructions adequately accounted for foreseeable use and misuse, while device makers and their human factors consultants dispute the adequacy of usability testing supporting regulatory submissions. Transportation companies, aviation operators, and technology providers contest responsibility for incidents involving operator error, distraction, and interface design, and employers and equipment suppliers allocate liability for workplace incidents involving machinery and controls. In each case, the central question is whether a system was designed with appropriate attention to human perception, cognition, and behavior, and whether the human error at issue was foreseeable.

A human factors expert applies research on attention, perception, decision-making, motor performance, and ergonomics to answer that question. The expert can evaluate whether warnings and instructions were conspicuous, comprehensible, and consistent with recognized design standards, assess user interfaces and control layouts for error-prone features, and analyze how distraction, workload, or training affected an operator's response. In regulatory and contractual disputes, the analysis may address whether usability studies followed accepted protocols and adequately represented intended users. These findings help counsel establish or rebut design and warnings theories, allocate responsibility between users and manufacturers or employers, and challenge opposing opinions that rely on hindsight about what a reasonable user should have done.

Human factors is a broad discipline, and the expert's research and applied experience should match the product, environment, and type of human performance at issue. Our human factors experts include psychologists specializing in consumer product safety, warnings, distracted driving, and attention, along with industrial engineers experienced in manufacturing reliability and risk analysis, and specialists in robotics and human-machine interaction. Others bring aviation human factors and crew resource management experience from full military aviation careers, and the network includes professionals who have worked with the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, many of whom have testified repeatedly on consumer behavior, hazard perception, and driver distraction. Round Table Group has completed more than 75,000 expert searches for litigators, and you can begin the search for your human factors matter by calling us at (202) 908-4500.

Kinds of Cases We Work On

Round Table Group helps our clients find a wide variety of Human Factors expert witnesses for cases like:

01

Usability Testing Gap Triggers Device Recall Suit.

A medical device manufacturer sued its human factors consultancy after an infusion pump recall was traced to a control-labeling ambiguity the consultancy's pre-market usability study had failed to flag. We identified experts with experience in medical device human factors engineering, usability testing methodology, and FDA human factors validation standards. The expert found the study's test protocol omitted a required use-error scenario specified in the applicable guidance, supporting the manufacturer's professional-negligence claim.
02

OEM Disputes Supplier Over Distracting Touchscreen Design.

A vehicle manufacturer sued an infotainment system supplier, alleging the touchscreen's menu structure required excessive glances-away-from-road time relative to the driver-distraction specifications in their component supply agreement. We identified experts with experience in automotive human-machine interface design, driver distraction measurement methodology, and vehicle safety standards compliance. The expert's eye-tracking analysis confirmed the interface exceeded the agreed glance-time threshold, supporting the manufacturer's warranty claim against the supplier.
03

Design Firm Blamed for Defective Tool Handle Ergonomics.

A power tool manufacturer sued its industrial design firm after a new product line's handle geometry caused a wave of grip-fatigue complaints and a costly mid-production redesign. We identified experts with experience in ergonomic product design, hand-tool biomechanics, and consumer product usability testing. The expert found the design had deviated from standard grip-pressure distribution guidelines the firm's own engagement scope required it to follow, supporting the manufacturer's claim.
04

Airline Disputes Manufacturer Over Cockpit Control Layout.

An airline sued an aircraft manufacturer after a series of pilot-reported control confusion incidents were traced to a cockpit switch layout the airline alleged breached the human factors design specifications in their aircraft purchase agreement. We identified experts with experience in aviation cockpit human factors design, pilot workload assessment, and aircraft certification standards. The expert's control-layout analysis found the switch grouping departed from the specification's stated design principles, supporting the airline's claim for retrofit costs.
05

Consultancy Blamed for Missed Workplace Ergonomic Risk.

A manufacturing company sued its ergonomics consultancy after a plant-wide assembly-line ergonomic assessment failed to identify a repetitive-motion risk that later contributed to a spike in workers' compensation claims across the facility. We identified experts with experience in industrial ergonomics assessment methodology, workplace injury risk analysis, and occupational safety standards. The expert found the assessment had skipped a standard task-cycle analysis step required under its own methodology, supporting the manufacturer's professional-negligence claim.
06

Interface Design Flaw Sparks Fintech Vendor Suit.

A financial technology company sued a user-experience design firm after a confusing transaction-confirmation interface led to a wave of erroneous customer transfers, breaching the usability-testing deliverables specified in their design services contract. We identified experts with experience in software user experience design, human-computer interaction testing, and financial transaction interface standards. The expert found the firm's usability testing had used an unrepresentative user sample that missed the confusion pattern, supporting the fintech company's claim for remediation costs.
07

Rival Device Makers Clash Over Interface Design Patent.

A medical device manufacturer sued a competitor, alleging its newly launched patient-monitoring device infringed patented alarm-interface design technology developed to reduce clinician response errors. We identified experts with experience in medical device human factors design, clinical alarm management standards, and patent claim analysis. The expert's interface comparison found the competitor's alarm hierarchy implemented the same claimed prioritization scheme, a finding cited in the court's infringement ruling.
08

Testing Lab Sued Over Failed Usability Certification.

A consumer electronics manufacturer sued a usability testing lab after a wearable device later found to have a confusing pairing process had received a passing usability certification the manufacturer relied on for its product launch. We identified experts with experience in consumer electronics usability testing standards, human factors certification methodology, and product launch quality assurance. The expert found the lab's test protocol had never included a first-time-user pairing scenario central to the device's actual use case, supporting the manufacturer's claim against the lab.
09

Fleet Operator Disputes OEM Over Gear Selector Design.

A vehicle rental fleet operator sued an automobile manufacturer, alleging an unintuitive electronic gear selector design caused a pattern of rollaway incidents across its rental fleet, breaching the human factors design representations in their fleet purchase agreement. We identified experts with experience in automotive control interface design, driver behavior and error analysis, and vehicle safety standards compliance. The expert's incident-pattern analysis found the selector's feedback design departed from established shift-confirmation conventions, supporting the fleet operator's claim for retrofit costs.
10

Subcontractor Blamed for Warning System Design Flaw.

An aircraft manufacturer sued a systems subcontractor after a cockpit warning system was found to present competing alerts in a sequence that obscured the higher-priority warning during a subsystem malfunction, breaching the human factors specifications in their subcontract. We identified experts with experience in aviation alerting system design, cockpit human factors engineering, and aircraft systems certification standards. The expert's alert-hierarchy analysis confirmed the sequencing departed from the specification's stated prioritization rules, supporting the manufacturer's claim against the subcontractor.

Here are a few of our favorite Human Factors Expert Witnesses:

Maryland Human Factors, Misuse Expert #15878

I have 22 years of experience, and specialize in the field of human factors psychology with specific knowledge in the areas of consumer product safety, consumer behavior and warnings and instructions. I have published on such topics as warnings, supervision and various consumer product safety issues. I have testified 49 times on topics such as flammable vapor ignition, child awareness of hazard and consumer behavior and perception.

 

North Carolina Attention, Human Factors, Stress Expert #17466

I have 12 years of experience, and specialize in the field of psychology with specific knowledge in the areas of human factors, performance psychology and cognitive psychology. I have published on such topics as attention, distraction, stress and human error.

 

Utah Human Factors, Cell Phones Expert #20042

I have 20 years of experience in the field of psychology, with specific knowledge of attention, distracted driving and cell phone. I have published on such topics as attention, skill acquisition and driving. I have testified 20 times on topics such as distracted driving, attention and cell phone.

 

Pennsylvania Ergonomics, Human Factors Expert #20366

I have 17 years of experience in the field of information systems, with specific knowledge of information security, ergonomics and project management. I have published on such topics as information security, information systems skills, and ergonomics and information technology.

 

California Human Factors, Ergonomics Expert #23903

I have 18 years of experience in the field of industrial engineering, with specific knowledge in the areas of human factors, manufacturing reliability, and risk analysis. I have published on such topics as human factors, industrial automation, and systems engineering. Broad overview of all aspects of complex systems engineering, specializing in design and manufacturing.

 

Your Case Deserves The Best Human Factors Expert Witnesses

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The right expert witnesses and consulting experts can make your case. That’s why we have spent so many hours over the past quarter century making sure our clients have just the right expert team — whether one expert or many, early-stage advice or expert reports and testimony. Across over 50,000 expert search assignments, we have honed a unique, customized approach to identifying, analyzing and connecting with expert talent so you can focus on winning your case.

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Florida Safety, Human Factors Expert #27135

I have 30 years of experience, and specialize in the field of aviation with specific knowledge in the areas of education, operations and safety. I have published on such topics as upset training research, runway safety and crew resource management. I retired from the Marine Corps after a full career in aviation. I currently teach the following topics: flight safety; flight physiology; aviation human factors; crew resource management.

 

Tennessee Human Factors, Motor Skill Expert #27469

I have 12 years of experience, and specialize in the field of motor behavior with specific knowledge in the areas of motor performance and learning, expert performance and aging. I have published on such topics as decrements in performance caused by switching between tasks, the characteristics of skilled actions and the forensic examination of a portable crib collapse. I have testified on the capability of a child to self-collapse a portable crib.

 

North Carolina Counterterrorism, Human Factors Expert #28854

I have 20 years of experience in the field of government and public policy, with specific knowledge in the areas of national security policy, counterterrorism, and homeland security. I have published on such topics as homeland security, privacy and civil liberties, national security, and counterterrorism strategy.

 

Pennsylvania Robotics, Human Factors Expert #29900

I have 30 years of experience, and specialize in the field of industrial and mechanical engineering. with specific knowledge in the areas of human and robotic interaction, human computer interface and ocean energy engineering. I have published on such topics as robotics and automation, human-machine systems and virtual reality.

 

Louisiana Ergonomics, Human Factors Expert #45176

I have 25 years of experience, and specialize in the field of ergonomics.

 

Utah Human Factors Expert #50376

I have 10 years of experience, and specialize in the field of human factors with specific knowledge in the areas of driver distraction, patient safety and device safety. I have published on such topics as driver distraction, human error and patient safety. I have testified on driver distraction, text messaging while driving and patient safety.

 

Put Our Human Factors Expert Network to Work for You

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Our huge network of experts – eminent university professors and practitioners who have achieved renown as thought leaders in their fields – combined with unparalleled research capabilities puts the experts you need at your disposal when and where you need them.

If you’re a litigator or general counsel, we want to put this network to work for you and your clients. Let us know how we can help by calling us at (202) 908-4500 or filling out the form on this page. We’re so confident you’ll love what we do that unless you retain an expert we present there’s no charge!

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Questions Attorneys Ask About Human Factors Expert Witnesses:

A human factors expert is needed when liability depends on how people perceived, understood, or interacted with a product, system, or environment. Product design and warnings disputes, medical device usability and regulatory testing disputes, transportation and aviation incidents involving operator performance, workplace machinery claims, and disputes over technology interface design commonly require this expertise. Early involvement helps counsel preserve products, interfaces, and training materials for evaluation.
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