Our Highly Human Mission

We improve computer systems and applications by designing interfaces that fit the user, workflow, and environment. We do this by creating computational models of computer users to develop a deep understanding of user needs and how well the computer system meets those needs. Our goal is to develop tools and techniques that will enable cognitive modeling to be a standard component of software system development. By applying computational GOMS analysis throughout the system development process, we dramatically reduce development time and improve system efficiency and effectiveness.

Dr. Scott D. Wood

Dr. Wood is founder and president of Highly Human Software. He was a Senior Scientist with Soar Technology for five years where he led several successful Department of Defense and NASA projects applying intelligent agent technology to human-system interaction. Dr. Wood has over fifteen years of research and industry experience in the areas of software development, e-business, cognitive modeling, and human-computer interaction. His doctoral research included extending GOMS (Goals, Operators, Methods, Selection Rules) to support human error modeling, developing techniques for predicting where human errors would occur in an interface, and testing those techniques by applying them to web applications. Dr. Wood also has experience developing human-performance models using the EPIC cognitive architecture, optimizing workflows and interface usability through task analysis, and in designing web solutions for e-business applications. In addition, he served four years in the U.S. Army attached to 5th Special Forces Group and other special operations units. He earned a B.S. in Computer Science (1990) from Tulane University, and M.S. (1994) and Ph.D. (2000) degrees in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.