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Ponsa Asensio, Pere

Journal of Ergonomics

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Volume 2 • Issue 4 • 1000e113J Ergonomics ISSN: 2165-7556 JER, an open access journal Research Article Open AccessPonsa, J Ergonomics 2012, 2:4http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2165-7556.1000e113Editorial Open AccessErgonomicsIn the Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) domain, many researchers are trying to model complexity. Complexity can be defined in air traffic control domain as the quantity, variety and interconnections inside a particular system [1]. Javaux and De Keyser defined cognitive complexity as the quantity of cognitive resources that a human operator must involve to make sure that tasks are executed with an acceptable level of performance [2]. The research problem is focused in the distinction between objective complexity and perceived complexity. A system can be internally complex or not and it could be perceived as complex anyway by its operator [3]. How can we simplify its use? This problem is important in safety-critical systems, where the human error is the main causal factor for almost 70% of accidents [4].  It is still not clear with aspects of a control room contributed to increasing perceived complexity and how this complexity affects the operator’s performance. Recent studies in the nuclear power plant control rooms are trying to understand complexity sources following field studies with interviews with reactor personnel and use of a full scale simulator [5]. These researchers apply the Human Reliability Analysis (HRA), an incident report database with 22 commercial nuclear plant incidents and an elicitation questionnaire to identify a set of complex sources with the help of control room operators. This is an ongoing research in the assessment of human-system interaction complexity [6].  From the point of view of complexity-mitigation strategies there are a set of useful rules [7]:- Study the attentional capacities of the human operator- Interfaces may be optimized- The system might be made more usable- The user may be trained in the workings of the interface involving system and environment (trying to decrease the unpredictability)- The system itself may be made more stable (encouraging cognitive stability)      Following Rob Tannen, the study of complexity is focused in product design [8]. In order to manage complexity, this author defines three approaches:- Defeaturing (reducing complexity)- Demystifying (using design to clearly communicate complexity) - Distributing (allocating complexity between the user and the system)In any case, it is difficult to model complexity and the human factors and ergonomics approach can be useful in this task.References1. Xing J (2007) Information Complexity in Air Traffic Control Displays.2. Javaux D, De Keyser V (1998) Complexité et conscience de la situation. Rapport final SFACT/DGAC.3. Boy G, Bradshaw J (2006) Perceived complexity versus internal complexity. Did we take account expertise, reliability and cognitive stability?4. Stanton NA, Salmon P, Jenkins D, Walker G (2010) Human factors in the design and evaluation of central control room operations, CRC Press. 5. Cummings ML, Sasangohar F, Thornburg KM (2010) Human-system interface complexity and opacity. Part I: Literature review. HAL2010-01 rapport, Human Automation Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 6. Sasangohar F, Cummings ML (2010) Human-system interface complexity and opacity. Part II: Methods and tools to assess HIS complexity. HAL2010-03 rapport, Human Automation Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.7. Miller C (2000) The human factor in complexity. In: Samad T, Weyrauch J (Eds.), Automation, control and complexity, John Wiley and Sons, New York 35-58.8. Tannen R (2012) Phillip Glass, Complexity and Product Design.*Corresponding author:  Pere Ponsa, Automatic Control Department, Barcelona Tech University, Spain, E-mail: pedro.ponsa@upc.eduReceived August 20, 2012; Accepted August 21, 2012; Published August 22, 2012Citation: Ponsa P (2012) Complexity in Safety-Critical Systems. J Ergonomics 1:e113. doi:10.4172/2165-7556.1000e113Copyright: © 2012 Ponsa P. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Complexity in Safety-Critical SystemsPere Ponsa*Automatic Control Department, Barcelona Tech University, Spain

Complexity in safety-critical systems

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Complexity in safety-critical systems

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