scholarly journals Integrating HCI concerns into the design of safety-critical interactive systems: a case study

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Good
i-com ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel Oliveira ◽  
Sophie Dupuy-Chessa ◽  
Gaëlle Calvary

AbstractInteractive systems have largely evolved over the past years. Nowadays, different users can interact with systems on different devices and in different environments. The user interfaces (UIs) are expected to cope with such variety. Plastic UIs have the capacity to adapt to changes in their context of use while preserving usability. Such capability enhances UIs, however, it adds complexity on them. We propose an approach to verifying interactive systems considering this adaptation capability of the UIs. The approach applies two formal techniques: model checking, to the verification of properties over the system model, and equivalence checking, to compare different versions of a UI, thereby identifying different levels of UI equivalence. We apply the approach to a case study in the nuclear power plant domain in which several UI are analyzed, properties are verified, and the level of equivalence between them is demonstrated.


2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 178-185
Author(s):  
Chifundo Zimba ◽  
Gwen Sherwood ◽  
Barbara Mark ◽  
Jeenifer Leeman

BackgroundHigh HIV infection and fertility rates contributed to over 12,000 children acquiring HIV from their mothers in 2011 in Malawi. To prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, Malawi adopted the Option B+ guidelines, and for three years, the University of North Carolina (UNC) Project provided support to strengthen guideline implementation in 134 health centres. Little is known about how implementation support strategies are delivered in low resource countries or contextual factors that may influence their delivery. The limited descriptions of support strategies and salient contextual factors limits efforts to replicate, target, and further refine strategies. Guided by the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation, this study describes factors influencing implementation of support strategies and how they impacted health center staff capacity to implement Option B+ in Malawi. MethodsA qualitative multi-case study design was applied. Data were collected through site visits to 4 heath centres (2 low- and 2-high performing centres). We interviewed 18 support providers and recipients between October 2014 and October 2015. Data were analysed using content, thematic, and cross-case analysis.ResultsFour categories of strategies were used to support Option B+ guidelines implementation: training, technical assistance (TA), tools, and resources. All heath-centres implemented Option B+ guidelines for care provided between the antenatal and labor and delivery periods. Gaps in Option B+ implementation occurred during community activities and during post-delivery care, including gaps in testing of children to ascertain their HIV status at 6 weeks, 12 months, and 24 months. Salient contextual factors included staffing shortages, transportation challenges, limited space and infrastructure, limited stocks of HIV testing kits, and large patient populations.ConclusionsUnderstanding factors that influence implementation support strategies and delivery of the Option B+ guidelines, such as availability of staff and other materials/drug resources, is critical to designing effective implementation support for low resource settings.


2022 ◽  
Vol 166 ◽  
pp. 108812
Author(s):  
Vinay Kumar ◽  
Kailash Chandra Mishra ◽  
Pooja Singh ◽  
Aditya Narayan Hati ◽  
Mohan Rao Mamdikar ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Mario Ciampi ◽  
Antonio Coronato ◽  
Giuseppe De Pietro ◽  
Luigi Gallo

Virtual Environments are complex systems in that they involve the crucial concept of sharing. Users can share knowledge of each other’s current activities, environments, and actions. In this chapter, the authors discuss about interaction interoperability, intended to mean the ability of two or more users to cooperate despite the heterogeneity of their interfaces. To allow such interoperability, formal methods to formalize the knowledge and middleware solutions for sharing that knowledge are required. After introducing the state-of-the-art solutions and the open issues in the field, the authors describe a system for providing interaction interoperability among multi-user interfaces. Rather than focusing on the de-coupling of input devices from interaction techniques and from interaction tasks, this chapter suggests integrating interactive systems at higher level through an interface standardization. To achieve this aim, the authors propose: i) an architectural model able to handle differences in input devices and interaction tasks; ii) an agent-based middleware that provides basic components to integrate heterogeneous user interfaces. The chapter also presents a case study in which an agent-based middleware is used to support developers in the interconnection of monolithic applications.


2021 ◽  
pp. 41-57
Author(s):  
Gregory Falco ◽  
Eric Rosenbach

The question “How do I assess our cyber risk?” addresses how to identify and characterize cyber risk unique to an organization’s critical systems, networks, and data. The chapter begins with a case study about a cyberattack on Ukraine’s electric grid. It details risk assessment for three types of critical systems: mission-critical systems, business-critical systems, and safety-critical systems. It explains the three types of networks critical to many organizations: business and administrative networks, operational and service delivery networks, and communication networks. In outlining the “CIA triad,” it shows how cyber risk can be characterized as a confidentiality, integrity, or availability issue relating to digital assets. Further, it describes how to assess the importance of different digital assets and how to prioritize them using a business impact analysis (BIA). The chapter concludes with real-world Embedded Endurance strategy lessons Rosenbach gained in Saudi Arabia in the wake of one of the world’s most destructive cyberattacks.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 511-528
Author(s):  
Roxana Corduneanu ◽  
Laura Lebec

PurposeDrawing on Simons's levers of control (LoC) framework, the primary aim of this study is to advance an understanding of the balance between empowerment and constraint in a non-profit UK organisation. In particular, this study examines the antecedents and manifestations of LoC (im)balance, in relation to employees' level of engagement with the control systems in place.Design/methodology/approachFor this study, 27 semi-structured interviews were conducted with different organisational members, from directors to non-managerial staff, to gain an in-depth appreciation of the main differences between managerial intentions in the design of management control systems (MCS) and employee perceptions regarding the role of such systems.FindingsThis research reveals that suppression of interactive systems and internal inconsistencies between different types of controls hinder the balance between empowerment and constraint. This imbalance is then found to have important consequences for employee buy-in, in some cases, defeating the purposes of control.Research limitations/implicationsThis study enhances our understanding of the gap between the design of control systems and the employee perceptions of it in an unusual organisational setting (non-profit and bringing together clinical and non-clinical staff and operations).Originality/valueThe study of MCS and its role in organisations has long been the focus of both academic and practitioner research. Yet, while extant literature focused on management's perspective on MCS, few studies have explored employees' attitudes and behaviours that accompany the implementation of control. What is more, little is known about the specific uses and behavioural outcomes of MCS in the context of non-profit organisations. Drawing on Simons's LoC framework, this paper addresses these gaps in the literature and investigates the balance between control and empowerment of employees in a UK non-profit organisation with significant clinical remit.


Author(s):  
Matthew L Bolton ◽  
Ellen J. Bass

Predicting failures in complex, human-interactive systems is difficult as they may occur under rare operational conditions and may be influenced by many factors including the system mission, the human operator's behavior, device automation, human-device interfaces, and the operational environment. This paper presents a method that integrates task analytic models of human behavior with formal models and model checking in order to formally verify properties of human-interactive systems. This method is illustrated with a case study: the programming of a patient controlled analgesia pump. Two specifications, one of which produces a counterexample, illustrate the analysis and visualization capabilities of the method.


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