E294 - Designing for Frustration in Games

Episode Link: http://www.humanfactorscast.media In episode 323 of Human Factors Cast (recorded August 20, 2026), Nick Roome and Barry Kirby discuss a paper on the “social cost” of adding an AI teammate to small teams, comparing three-human teams with teams of two humans plus an AI in a high-stakes decision task. They also share conference updates (ASPIRE paper/panel, IEA 2027 deadlines), and answer a question on the future of human factors in the return of the "It Came From" segment. Support us: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/humanfactorscast Buy us a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/hfactorspodcast Merchandise Store: https://www.humanfactorscast.media/p/Store/

Episode Link: https://www.humanfactorscast.media/322 In this episode of Human Factors Cast (recorded July 23, 2026), Nick Roome and Barry Kirby discuss a new Technical University of Munich paper arguing that major AI safety risks come less from model errors and more from how people and organizations interact with AI, including over-reliance and loss of oversight. News: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43681-026-01132-0

Episode Link: https://www.humanfactorscast.media/321 Nick Roome and Barry Kirby return live for Human Factors Cast Episode 321 after a month off. The main announcement is that Human Factors Cast has transitioned into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation aimed at improving human factors visibility through education, outreach, community, grants, and research on human factors communication, with stated core values including accessibility, scientific integrity, public education, experimentation, community, transparency, sustainability, and passion for human factors.

Episode Link: https://www.humanfactorscast.media/320 Support the show, and the mission of better science communication in Human Factors:Support this Podcast Join us for episode 320 of Human Factors Cast, recorded live May 15, 2026,. Nick Roome and Barry Kirby share updates including a recap Barry’s EHF conference highlights. They discuss Stanford’s 2026 AI Index and an MIT Tech Review report on agentic AI in software engineering, focusing on rapid adoption, the “jagged frontier” where AI excels on benchmarks yet fails basic tasks, and human factors issues like trust calibration, workload, supervision, permissions, and accountability in human-AI teaming. This Week in Aerospace is back to talk about NASA’s Routine Autonomous Multi-Aircraft Operations (RAM AO) work to enable small teams managing large autonomous fleets, including interventions/exception taxonomies, Monte Carlo modeling to justify safe human-to-vehicle ratios, and the need for industry consensus standards to support future FAA regulation. Support us: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/humanfactorscast Buy us a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/hfactorspodcast Merchandise Store: https://www.humanfactorscast.media/p/Store/

Episode Link: https://www.humanfactorscast.media/319 This week on the show we discuss Artemis II’s 10-day crewed mission around the Moon as a major milestone and a human factors reality check. From core issues of living and working in Orion’s cramped space—limited privacy, disrupted sleep, fatigue, team dynamics, autonomy, tight workload, and the gap between engineering readiness and human readiness—to post-landing physical effects and recovery logistics. We examine NASA’s communications and public transparency, including live visuals, commentary, and openness about problems. Specific incidents include a clogged/frozen wastewater vent line that was fixed by orienting the capsule toward the Sun, and a crew email issue involving two versions of Outlook. View the full article here: https://www.humanfactorscast.media/blog/artemis-ii-and-human-factors-in-deep-space/