How User-Centered Design Supports Situation Awareness for Complex Interfaces

This chapter moves the discussion of how to design an operation center down a level towards implementation. We present user-centered design (UCD) as a distinct design philosophy to replace user experience (UX) when designing systems like the Water Detection System (WDS). Just like any other component (e.g., electrical system, communications networks), the operator has safe operating conditions, expected error rates, and predictable performance, albeit with a more variable range for the associated metrics. However, analyzing the operator’s capabilities, like any other component in a large system, helps developers create reliable, effective systems that mitigate risks of system failure due to human error in integrated human–machine systems (e.g., air traffic control). With UCD as a design philosophy, we argue that situation awareness (SA) is an effective framework for developing successful UCD systems. SA is an established framework that describes operator performance via their ability to create and maintain a mental model of the information necessary to achieve their task. SA describes performance as a function of the operator’s ability to perceive useful information, comprehend its significance, and predict future system states. Alongside detailed explanations of UCD and SA, this chapter presents further guidance and examples demonstrating how to implement these concepts in real systems.

Conclusion and Final Comments

The foundational design philosophy of user-centered design (UCD) offers an ideal approach for systems engineers, programmers, designers, and any other stakeholder involved with the design of high-stakes systems with human operators. Furthermore, UCD, as presented here, is tailor-made to meet the unique needs of critical human–machine systems in systems like air traffic control towers, 911 call centers, or NASA’s Mission Control Center. Whenever the operator is a mission-critical component of the system, stakeholders must be able to make informed decisions during the design process, and this book provides the tools necessary to make those decisions.

Cognition and Operator Performance

Developing systems that foster situation awareness in operators requires that stakeholders can make informed decisions about the design. These decisions must account for the operator’s underlying cognitive processes based on perception, comprehension, and projection of the system state. This chapter reviews the core cognitive processes responsible for monitoring and responding to changes in system state. Operators must perceive information before they can act in response, and the interface design affects operator accuracy and speed via known mechanisms (i.e., effects of color on visual search time). Perception of key information also relies on how the operator thinks during tasks, and certain design choices can support better attention control and detection of signals. After perceiving the information, operators also must comprehend and interpret the information. Design guidance and factors related to supporting comprehension are presented alongside explanations of how cognitive load and working memory affect the operator’s ability to develop and maintain a useful mental model of the system. This review of cognitive mechanisms gives designers a strong foundation to make informed decisions ranging from choosing an alarm color to assessing how much information should be on screen at once.

Introducing Interface Design for Remote Autonomous Systems

This chapter presents a high-level overview of how designers of complex systems can address risks to project success associated with operator performance and user-centered design. Operation Centers for remote, autonomous systems rely on an interconnected process involving complex technological systems and human operators. Designers should account for issues at possible points of failure, including the human operators themselves. Compared to other system components, human operators can be error-prone and require different knowledge to design for than engineering components. Operators also typically exhibit a wider range of performance than other system components. We propose the Risk-Driven Incremental Commitment Model as the best guide to decision-making when designing interfaces for high-stakes systems. Designers working with relevant stakeholders must assess where to allocate scarce resources during system development. By knowing the technology, users, and tasks for the proposed system, the designers can make informed decisions to reduce the risk of system failure. This chapter introduces key concepts for informed decision-making when designing operation center systems, presents an example system to ground the material, and provides several broadly applicable design guidelines that support the development of user-centered systems in operation centers.