Dissonance engineering: A new challenge to analyse risky knowledge when using a system

Abstract

The use of information systems such as on-board automated systems for cars presents sometimes operational risks that were not taken into account with classical risk analysis methods. This paper proposes a new challenge to assess risks by implementing an automated tool based on the dissonance engineering principle. It consists in analysing knowledge in term of dissonances. A dissonance is defined as a knowledge that sounds wrong, or in other words that may present conflicts. The paper focuses on two kinds of dissonances: erroneous affordances when events can be related to erroneous actions and contradictory knowledge when the application of knowledge relates to opposite actions. The proposed automated tool analyses the knowledge base content in order to detect possible dangerous affordances or contradictory knowledge. An example of application is given by using a limited number of simple rules related to the use of an Automated Speed Control (ASC) system for car driving.