Christobel HUI
Human Factors Consultant*, 
AUSTRALIA

“I would not be a Human Factors Consultant at SYSTRA today if…”

If it wasn’t for my boyfriend who saw the job ad for the SSL grad program – Human Factors* stream and encouraged me to apply for it. I was a psychology graduate who was passionate about understanding human behaviour, capabilities and limitations and was looking for interesting work that I could apply this knowledge to. I had no idea this field existed prior to seeing the job ad! After doing a bit of research and reading on Human Factors, I found it so fascinating that I decided to give it a go and I am so glad that I did! 

“What motivates me on a daily basis at SYSTRA is…”

The opportunity to learn every day. I am blessed to be in a team full of passionate and technically incredible Human Factors professionals. The diverse experiences and personalities of my team members make work fun and mean I get to learn something different from each of them! 

“I realised how meaningful my job was when…”

When I saw the positive impacts my job can make to ensure human safety and improve whole system efficiency, as well as the negative impacts when Human Factors is not considered in a project. As I perform my duties daily, I am increasingly convinced of the value of Human Factors that puts people’s safety, comfort, performance, health and wellbeing first.

“My message to those considering this job”

To go for it and always be curious, especially about people. I learnt that to consider Human Factors is to constantly think about how people interact, whether it is with an object, each other, or a device, how they perform a task and ask questions to understand their needs and goals. Only then can you appreciate the full context of use and begin building an effective solution to improve safety, efficiency and usability.  

*Human factors engineering (HFE) is a discipline that focuses on tool, machine and system design that takes into account human capabilities, limitations and characteristics. The aims are to design for safe, comfortable and efficient human use.