Authors: Burns, Catherine M.; Skraaning, Gyrd; Jamieson, Greg A.; Lau, Nathan; Kwok, Jordanna; Welch, Robin; Andresen, Gisle

Source: Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Volume 50, Number 4, August 2008 , pp. 663-679(17)

Abstract:

Objective: We determine whether an ecological interface display for nuclear power plant operations supports improved situation awareness over traditional and user-centered displays in a realistic environment. Background: Ecological interface design (EID) has not yet been fully evaluated with real operators facing realistic scenarios. Method: Ecological displays were evaluated alongside traditional and user-centered "advanced" displays in a full-scope nuclear power plant simulation. Licensed plant operators used the displays in realistic scenarios that either had procedural support or did not have procedural support. All three displays were evaluated for their ability to support operator situation awareness. Results: A significant three-way interaction effect was observed on two independent measures of situation awareness. For both measures, ecological displays improved situation awareness in scenarios that did not have procedural support, primarily in the detection phases of those scenarios. No other pronounced effects appeared across both measures. Conclusions: The observed improvement was sufficiently large to suggest that EID could improve situation awareness in situations where procedures are unavailable. However, the EID displays did not lead to improved situation awareness in the other conditions of the evaluation, and participants using these displays occasionally underperformed on single measures of situation awareness. This suggests that the approach requires further development, particularly in integrating EID with procedural support. Application: This research has important findings for the ongoing development of the EID approach, the design of industrial operator displays, and design to support situation awareness.

Keywords: ECOLOGICAL INTERFACE DESIGN; SITUATION AWARENESS; DISPLAYS AND CONTROLS; OBJECT DISPLAYS; DECISION MAKING; COGNITIVE PROCESSES; NATURALISTIC DECISION MAKING; INTERFACE EVALUATION; USABILITY; PROBLEM SOLVING; REASONING; VISUAL DISPLAYS; PICTORIAL DISPLAYS; COGNITIVE PROCESSES; COMPUTER SYSTEMS; PROCESS CONTROL; NUCLEAR POWER; DISPLAYS AND CONTROLS

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1518/001872008X312305

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