U.S. Firm is Key to China's Advance in Human-Computer Interaction; Human Factors International, World's Largest Usability Company, Opens First China Office.

FAIRFIELD, Iowa -- Human Factors International (HFI) continued its worldwide expansion by opening a new, fully-licensed China office, formally established as HFI (Shanghai) Software Consulting Co. Ltd. This local presence gives Chinese companies direct access to the most sophisticated usability consulting and training available and gives non-Chinese companies access to Chinese users for product evaluation and test marketing.

Usability is a key differentiator in technology markets, as countries like India, China, Russia, and Brazil compete fiercely for global marketshare. Those with the ability to develop more usable software, Web sites, and products gain a unique advantage.

Jason Feng Huang is HFI-China's Managing Director and currently president of China's Usability Professionals Association. With a master's degree in Human Communication and Computing, Jason was Director of User Design Experience for SIM TeleCom and Smartfone Telecom in Shanghai.

"We will have a strong, positive impact on China's ability to develop useful and usable software," predicts Jason. "HFI-China is committed to providing modern usability services for China."

Dr. Baili Liu is Technical Director for HFI-China. She earned a Ph.D. in human factors engineering from Purdue University and was assistant professor of computing and software systems at the University of Washington Bothell.

"Our team of local professionals, supported by HFI's international resources, is knowledgeable, energetic, and uses the best practices in research, analysis and design," says Baili.

Apala Lahiri Chavan, HFI's VP-Asia, further notes that, "HFI is the world leader at creating culturally optimized designs. HFI-China will leverage global usability research and decades of experience with a deep understanding of local users. This especially helps when evaluating and testing designs created outside of China but meant for the Chinese user."

According to HFI's CEO Dr. Eric Schaffer, "Chinese companies understand how critical proper usability work and localization are for success. HFI has already supported projects in China through its India subsidiary for clients such as Dell, Microsoft, PayPal, SAP, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson."

About Human Factors International:

Sine 1981 Human Factors International (HFI) has helped customers create Web sites, applications, and intranets that are intuitive and easy to use. Their work is based on the Schaffer-Weinschenk Method(TM), an ISO-certifiable process for user-centered design. HFI provides training and certification for usability practitioners. With more than 3,000 consulting projects and 2,500 courses taught on interface design, HFI is known for reliable completion--on-time and on-budget. Corporate headquarters are in Fairfield, IA, with U.S. offices in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco, European headquarters in London, India offices in Mumbai, Bangalore, Pondicherry, other Asia locations in Singapore and Shanghai. Visit: www.humanfactors.com.

HFI (Shanghai) Software Consulting Co. Ltd.
Address:    407, No.555, Nanjing Road West,
            Shanghai, China 200042