Human reliability and workload in product design with different frequencies of interruption

Product design requirements are often volatile and require human input. To create a deeper understanding of human reliability in product design, a phase-dependent multi aspect taxonomy for the description and analysis of human reliability in product design has been developed. Based on this theory, different research hypotheses regarding the effects of the variable “frequency of interruption” on the quota of fulfilled product requirements and on workload, frustration and effort were formulated and empirically analyzed by conducting a laboratory experiment with 79 students from a master program in mechanical engineering of RWTH Aachen University. The results are presented in this paper.