A Methodology for Promoting Reliable Human-System Interaction

Abstract

A qualitative methodology is proposed that can help both designers and managers anticipate problems, which are often manifest as human errors, that people will have in interacting with various products and systems. The methodology adapts a number of well-known hazard evaluation techniques so that they can be applied to human performance, and combines them in a way that increases the analytical team’s ability to predict the possibility for human performance failures and their consequences. A basis is also provided for examining explanations for these failures, and for providing categorical severity and likelihood assessments of these consequences. The importance of assessing the impact of barriers on adverse consequences is also discussed.