And you thought my usability tests were tough…
The airline industry has to do some serious usability testing. [This article](http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0322wsj-airbus22-ON.html) (registration required) discusses the challenges in testing the exits on the new double-decker [Airbus A380](http://www.airbus.com/product/a380_backgrounder.asp). They need to demonstrate that the maximum load of 853 people can get off the plane in 90 seconds or less. To do this, they will actually pack a plane full of volunteers and simulate an emergency. Wow.
The article goes on to say that the volunteers often get injured in these tests. It cites one particularly grim case:
In a 1991 test of a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 inside a darkened hangar at Long Beach, Calif., one attempt took 132 seconds and resulted in 28 injuries. McDonnell Douglas did the test over and got people to move faster. But in the mayhem, a 60-year-old woman caught her foot on a slide. She flipped, crashed headlong against a pile of people at the bottom, and broke her neck. She was left paralyzed for life. McDonnell Douglas failed the test and the FAA denied its request to put up to 421 people on the MD-11. (It eventually approved up to 410.)
If anyone ever complains about one of my usability tests, I’ll just point to this and tell them it could be worse.