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Human factors research is still in its infancy in healthcare and other fields. Yet it has the potential to allow organisations and living labs to assess and improve innovation quality, while closely involving potential end users. "Human factors" involve a scientific focus on the interaction between individuals and systems with the goal of improving safety, performance, and user acceptability. Studies simulating challenging real-life circumstances in selected samples and using a multi-method approach can provide important insights for organisations and governments and allow for better and safer services for the end user. By combining existing theory and case examples, the current paper aims to situate human factors research and to help researchers determine when and how this methodology could be applied.

Sleep problems, like insomnia, are a prevalent condition associated with major health risks. Prevention and treatment of sleep problems are thus essential to preserve physical and mental health. Previous work supports the effectiveness of breathing guidance for sleep problems and recommends breathing exercises as an effective intervention for insomnia. While new technologies can support breathing guidance, such novel devices should be assessed for effectiveness and usability to facilitate implementation and continued use. The current pilot study investigates the acceptability and usability of a mobile tactile breathing device and explores its potential impact on subjective sleep quality. In this mixed-method pilot study, 39 participants tested the breathing device for one month in naturalistic circumstances. We collected their experiences, subjective sleep quality, and feedback regarding the usability of the device and the accompanying app through a survey in a pre-post design. The results show that the breathing device is an acceptable solution for sleep problems and participants particularly appreciate the standalone function and design. Nevertheless, important points of attention, such as the size of the device, were also identified. Explorative analyses suggest that subjective sleep quality improved after using the device and accompanying app. The current study supports the usability and acceptability of a tactile breath pacer and provides preliminary evidence supporting a positive impact of the technology on the sleep quality of participants. Recommendations for developers of breathing technologies and eHealth are devised based on the findings.