Enhancing the human-computer interface of power system applications

This paper examines a topic of increasing importance: the interpretation of the massive amount of data available to power system engineers. The solutions currently adopted in the presentation of data in graphical interfaces are discussed. It is demonstrated that the representations of electric diagrams can be considerably enhanced through the adequate exploitation of resources available in full-graphics screens and the use of basic concepts from human-factors research. Enhanced representations of electric diagrams are proposed and tested. The objective is to let the user "see" the behavior of the power system, allowing for better interpretation of program data and results and improving user's productivity.