Tom Stewart

Tom specialises in:

• project management, especially of multi-disciplinary teams, often geographically dispersed 
• problem solving involving people and technology 
• evaluating usability, typically of computer systems 
• ergonomics in retailing 
• workstation and office ergonomics 
• communication and presentation especially to senior management
• expert witness in the field of ergonomics 
• international collaboration.

Biography

Tom Stewart is Executive Chairman of System Concepts.  He holds a BSc in Mathematics and Physics (1968) and a BSc in Psychology (1970) both from the University of Glasgow.  He is a Chartered Psychologist, an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and a Fellow of the Ergonomics Society.  He was a founder member of the Human Sciences and Advanced Technology (HUSAT) Research group at Loughborough University in 1970.  In 1979, he joined the management consultancy Butler Cox and Partners and worked on assignments in Europe, North America and Australia.  After 3 years, he moved to Willis Faber, one of the world’s largest insurance brokers to become Manager of Special Projects in the Systems Division. 

He joined System Concepts in 1983, and became Managing Director in 1986.  He has served as an adviser to a number of national and international bodies including the UK Health and Safety Executive, the Design Council and the World Health Organisation.

He is active in British, European and International ergonomics standards and chairs:

• British Standards Applied Ergonomics Committee (PH9)
• International Standards Organisation Committee (TC159/SC4) responsible for the ergonomics of human-system interaction (including ISO 9241 and ISO 13407) and its CEN equivalent.

He is a sought after public speaker in Europe, the US and Japan and is known for bringing usability standards to a wide audience in an entertaining and informative way.  He is a spokesman on the human aspects of technology for the British Psychological Society and is regularly interviewed by the media on such topics.  Recently, he has appeared on the Today Programme, BBC Breakfast and Radio 5 Live.

Tom is a regular author and is Founding Editor of the international journal Behaviour and Information Technology.  An enthusiastic promoter of ergonomics, he has received several awards for his contribution to the field from

• the British Computer Society (Auerbach Award 1975)
• the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (Leon Gaster Medal 1980)
• the Ergonomics Society (Otto Edholm Award 2000 and the Society Annual Lecture Medal 2001).

In 2003, he was made a Fellow of the International Ergonomics Association and is a past President of the Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors.

Tom is an acknowledged expert on the Display Screen Equipment regulations, and has written a management guide to the regulations.

You can find out some of Tom's views on current usability issues, by visiting his expert blog.

Client Projects / Case Studies

Recent personal consultancy assignments include:

• Acting as Project Editor on the revision of the human-centred design standard (ISO 13407) in order to develop a new standard ISO DIS 9241-210 
• Leading teams conducting usability and accessibility testing for digital products including websites, mobile devices and interactive television for clients including the BBC, Orange, Motorola and Nokia
• Advising two major banks on the human factors and ergonomics issues associated with the introduction of automated banking systems and equipment in their retail branch network.
• Conducting Expert Reviews of specialist software publishing systems for the Financial Times and Reed Business Information
• Providing expert witness services to solicitors representing personal injury claimants and defendants in office and industrial ergonomics.

Significant past projects include:

• Leading an HCI team working for two years on a project for EDS on one of the largest IT projects in Europe to implement a new system for a UK Government Department.  The project involved developing a user interface style guide to provide consistency throughout the new system and then using this as a basis for ongoing design reviews and usability testing.
• Advising the Market Operations Director of the New York Stock Exchange, who was conducting an ergonomics analysis of the trading operations with the support of System Concepts, as a pre-cursor to the re-design of the trading floor.
• Providing long term (approximately 20 years) ergonomics support to Marks and Spencer, a leading UK retailer.  In addition to working on checkouts, CCTV and office system and ergonomics, he was external Project Director on a four year project to develop a new generation of refrigerated display equipment for the food business.