Decision-centered design as the basis of defining the human role in systems

In the last decade, controls research has focused on the interaction between the controlled plant and a computer controller, but in many situations a human operator is an integral part of the system. The operator interface to the system must support operators to maintain situational awareness and vigilance, and alert them when their intervention is required. The interface must be designed to allow operators to act/react effectively when human control intervention is needed. This requires the operator to make critical decisions about the state of the system and choose the optimal response. This paper describes a decision-centered design process which results in interfaces that support these monitoring and decisionmaking roles. The process begins by identifying the critical decisions that operators must make. With this understanding, the information presentation and interaction modes to support the operator to optimize decisions can be focused appropriately.