Multidisciplinary Modelling for User-Centred System Design: An Air-Traffic Control Case Study

This paper reports work investigating how user and system modelling techniques can be integrated to support the design of advanced interactive systems, and how such modelling can be effectively communicated to design practitioners in order to evaluate their potential. We describe a large scale modelling exercise concerning a flight sequencing tool for air-traffic controllers. We outline the kinds of system and user analysis possible with the different modelling techniques, and the approach used to integrate and communicate the modelling analyses to the system's designers. We then discuss the value of these techniques against several key criteria. The designers evaluated the modelling positively in many respects, including a commitment to explore further how user modelling can be integrated with their formal methods. We conclude that the scenario of HCI modellers working in collaboration with designers is feasible, and has analytic power.

1. Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK.

2. School of Computing Science, Middlesex University, Bounds Green Road, London, N11 2NQ, UK.

3. Dept. Computer Science, University of York, York, YO1 5DD, UK.

4. Dept. Psychology, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TP, UK.

5. CNUCE-CNR, Via S.Maria 36, 56126 Pisa, Italy.

6. MRC Applied Psychology Unit, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge, CB2 2EF, UK.

Publication(s)

To appear in: Proceedings of Human-Computer Interaction'96, Annual HCI Conference of the British Computer Society, London, 20-23 August, 1996 (Springer-Verlag, London)