LTR 150: Jonathan Kendler on Rethinking Human Factors Engineering for AI/ML-Enabled Devices
From Let's Talk Risk! with Dr. Naveen Agarwal by Casual and informal conversations about practical aspects of medical device risk management.
April 3, 2026 · 29 min
About this episode
The episode discusses how AI is changing human factors engineering in medical devices and the associated risks and opportunities.
Summary “AI brings novel risks and addressing them will require a more creative approach to human factors engineering.” In this Let’s Talk Risk! conversation , host Naveen Agarwal speaks with Jonathan Kendler, a seasoned medical device human factors and UI design consultant, about how artificial intelligence is changing the practice of usability engineering in MedTech. Jonathan brings a rare perspective to the discussion, blending decades of experience in user interface design, human factors, and medical device development. The conversation explores a central tension facing the industry today: while AI introduces new interaction patterns, trust challenges, and potential safety risks, the core responsibility remains unchanged - understand the user, understand the context of use, and design for safe, effective human interaction. Jonathan also shares where he sees real promise, including AI-supported training, surgical planning, and stronger cross-functional collaboration across risk, quality, regulatory, engineering, and human factors teams. Listen to the full 30-minute podcast or jump to a section of interest listed below. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 02:53 Why AI changes the…
People in this episode
Host: Naveen Agarwal
Guest: Jonathan Kendler
Topics covered
- human factors engineering
- AI in medical devices
- usability engineering
- trust challenges
- surgical planning
- cross-functional collaboration
Keywords
- AI
- human factors
- usability
- medical devices
- safety risks
- training
- surgical planning
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: MedTech
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