The Human Factors Research Group (HFRG) is a recognised research and
consultancy grouping within University College
Cork (UCC). It has existed since 1984 on the basis of a mix of funding from various sources:
- consultancy activities to
the European and US information technology industry,
- usability questionnaire research,
- EC part-funded projects in ESPRIT, TAP, etc.
The HFRG is considered
to be part of UCC's strategy to export knowledge and technology from the
academic environment to the business world. Academics and researchers from
several departments of UCC have joined forces at the HFRG for specific
project purposes, among them being Applied
Psychology, Sociology, Geography,
and the Computer Centre.
The HFRG is situated on campus, near to the University's Boole
Library, with which it has collaborated on a highly successful bibliographical information
provision project for medicine informatics in Ireland.
The HFRG has developed and sell the SUMI (Software Usability
Measurement Inventory) Questionnaire which is currently used
by IT companies all over the world. Other questionnaires you may read about
are Measurement of Usability of Multi Media
Software (MUMMS) and Website Analysis and Measurement
Inventory (WAMMI).
