RESUMEN
A novel map display concept named Mirror in the Sky (MitS) has been introduced to improve performance and reduce workload in navigation tasks. However, this display will be novel to most users and as such, an evaluation of MitS in comparison with more conventional map formats is warranted. This study investigated the effects of map display format (MitS vs. north-up and track-up maps) and user expertise on mental workload (MWL) and performance, using both soldiers (experts) and civilians (novices) as participants. Participants followed a prescribed route to a destination in a virtual environment (route following task) while also performing a secondary task (detection response task). Soldiers generally performed better than civilians. Soldiers reported a higher MWL with MitS than with the north-up map, whereas civilians reported a higher MWL with MitS than with the track-up map. Regardless of user expertise, there were performance and workload challenges with MitS, despite its potential. Practitioner summary: A new map display concept called Mirror in the Sky (MitS) was compared with two conventional map formats: a north-up and track-up map. The experiment tested soldier and civilian users in a route following task. Both groups got further into the route and had fewer obstacle collisions with north-up and track-up maps than they did with the MitS map. MWL measures generally indicated higher workload with MitS. Abbreviations: MitS: mirror in the sky; FFOV: forward field of view; AR: augmented reality; MWL: mental workload; VR: virtual reality; HF: human factors; HR: heart rate; HRV: heart rate variability; DRT: detection response task; DRDC: defence research and development Canada; VE: virtual environment; RT: response time; ANOVA: analysis of variance.
Asunto(s)
Realidad Aumentada , Personal Militar , Realidad Virtual , Humanos , Análisis y Desempeño de Tareas , Carga de TrabajoRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate an adaptive user interface that could detect states of operator information overload and calibrate the amount of information on the screen. BACKGROUND: Machine learning can detect changes in operating context and trigger adaptive user interfaces (AUIs) to accommodate those changes. Operator attentional state represents a promising aspect of operating context for triggering AUIs. Behavioral rather than physiological indices can be used to infer operator attentional state. METHOD: In Experiment 1, a network analysis task sought to induce states of information overload relative to a baseline. Streams of interaction data were taken from these two states and used to train machine learning classifiers. We implemented these classifiers in Experiment 2 to drive an AUI that automatically calibrated the amount of information displayed to operators. RESULTS: Experiment 1 successfully induced information overload in participants, resulting in lower accuracy, slower completion time, and higher workload. A series of machine learning classifiers detected states of information overload significantly above chance level. Experiment 2 identified four clusters of users who responded significantly differently to the AUIs. The AUIs benefited performance, completion time, and workload in three clusters. CONCLUSION: Behavioral indices can successfully detect states of information overload and be used to effectively drive an AUI for some user groups. The success of AUIs may be contingent on characteristics of the user group. APPLICATION: This research applies to domains seeking real-time assessments of user attentional or psychological state.
Asunto(s)
Atención , Aprendizaje Automático , Humanos , Análisis y Desempeño de Tareas , Interfaz Usuario-Computador , Carga de TrabajoRESUMEN
The next generation of displays for soldiers may include augmented reality capabilities. One such display, called Mirror in the Sky (MitS), presents survey information in the upper visual field. Using a virtual reality simulation of a military reconnaissance scenario, we compared a MitS prototype to a familiar electronic 2D north-up map. Participants (24 soldiers) were told to follow a prescribed route, detect potential threats, and reroute around them. They also performed a secondary task as a measure of mental workload. At the end of the route, the soldiers were asked to recall the locations of threats and route changes. Participants made better reroute decisions with the north-up map than with MitS, although no differences were observed for threat detection or mental workload. They also scored higher on recall with the north-up map than with MitS. Practitioner Summary: An augmented reality navigation aid was compared to an electronic north-up map in a military reconnaissance scenario, in a virtual reality simulation. Participants made better route decisions and had better recall with the north-up map, but no mental workload differences were found between displays.
Asunto(s)
Realidad Aumentada , Personal Militar , Realidad Virtual , Simulación por Computador , Electrónica , HumanosRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: Test the automation transparency design principle using a full-scope nuclear power plant simulator. BACKGROUND: Automation transparency is a long-held human factors design principle espousing that the responsibilities, capabilities, goals, activities, and/or effects of automation should be directly observable in the human-system interface. The anticipated benefits of transparency include more effective reliance, more appropriate trust, better understanding, and greater user satisfaction. Transparency has enjoyed a recent upsurge in use in the context of human interaction with agent-oriented automation. METHOD: Three full-scope nuclear power plant simulator studies were conducted with licensed operating crews. In the first two experiments, transparency was implemented for interlocks, controllers, limitations, protections, and automatic programs that operate at the local component level of the plant. In the third experiment, procedure automation assumed control of plant operations and was represented in dedicated agent displays. RESULTS: Results from Experiments 1 and 2 appear to validate the human performance benefits of automation transparency for automation at the component level. However, Experiment 3 failed to replicate these findings for automation that assumed control for executing procedural actions. CONCLUSION: Automation transparency appears to yield expected benefits for component-level automation, but caution is warranted in generalizing the design principle to agent-oriented automation. APPLICATION: The automation transparency design principle may offer a powerful means of compensating for the detrimental impacts of hidden automation influence at the component level of complex systems. However, system developers should exercise caution in assuming that the principle extends to agent-oriented automation.
Asunto(s)
Sistemas Hombre-Máquina , Análisis y Desempeño de Tareas , Automatización , Humanos , Plantas de Energía Nuclear , ConfianzaRESUMEN
We investigated the efficacy of a novel augmented reality (AR) navigation display called Mirror in the Sky (MitS). AR displays can reduce the distance between virtual imagery content and the user's view of the environment but may have limited benefit for depicting map-based survey information. MitS presents a simulated mirror in the upper visual field, which reflects the topographic layout of the terrain in front of the user. In our experiment, 28 participants used MitS and a track-up Map in virtual reality to perform a route confirmation task, which required participants to decide whether a route could be successfully navigated. A post-trial threat location recall task examined spatial awareness. On that task, accuracy, duration, and subjective workload measures favoured the Map. However, participants with virtual reality experience made more accurate route confirmation decisions with MitS than the Map. Practitioner summary: We compared an augmented reality display called Mirror in the Sky (MitS) to a conventional electronic map for route confirmation and threat location tasks. Although the electronic map showed advantages over MitS on some measures, users with some VR experience performed route confirmation more accurately with MitS than a map.
Asunto(s)
Realidad Aumentada , Navegación Espacial , Interfaz Usuario-Computador , Realidad Virtual , Adulto , Femenino , Humanos , MasculinoRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: This article is a response to Wickens et al.'s (2019) critique of Jamieson and Skraaning (2019). BACKGROUND: Wickens et al. (2019) offer a five-point critique of Jamieson and Skraaning (2019) that they claim tempers the strength of our conclusions. APPROACH: We first correct a misrepresentation in the critique and then respond to each of the criticisms. RESULTS: We preserve the strength of our skeptical conclusions about the applicability of the lumberjack model to complex work settings. APPLICATIONS: We continue to caution system designers about the lack of evidence supporting the lumberjack model in the context of complex work systems.
Asunto(s)
Automatización , Concienciación , Sistemas Hombre-Máquina , Lugar de Trabajo , Predicción , Humanos , Análisis y Desempeño de Tareas , Carga de TrabajoRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to test the predictions of the routine-failure trade-off (or lumberjack) model in a full-scope simulator study with expert operators performing realistic control tasks. BACKGROUND: A meta-study of degree of automation (DOA) studies concluded that DOA predicts task performance under both routine and automation failure conditions, workload, and situation awareness. Empirical support for this conclusion appears to be weak for complex work situations. METHOD: A full-scope nuclear power plant simulator experiment was conducted in which licensed operating crews completed realistic procedure execution tasks. Dependent measures selected from the lumberjack model were collected and analyzed for systematic effects. RESULTS: Situation awareness increased with increasing DOA, which contradicts the lumberjack model. Anticipated workload and failure task performance effects were not observed. CONCLUSION: The experimental results add further evidence challenging the applicability of the lumberjack model to complex work situations. APPLICATION: Practitioners should use caution when extending the predictions of the lumberjack model based on data from simple work situations to complex work situations. Researchers should invest more resources in testing the predictive power of the lumberjack model in complex work situations.
Asunto(s)
Automatización , Sistemas Hombre-Máquina , Lugar de Trabajo , Adulto , Humanos , Persona de Mediana Edad , Plantas de Energía Nuclear , Suecia , Análisis y Desempeño de Tareas , Carga de TrabajoRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to develop a machine learning classifier to infer attentional tunneling through behavioral indices. This research serves as a proof of concept for a method for inferring operator state to trigger adaptations to user interfaces. BACKGROUND: Adaptive user interfaces adapt their information content or configuration to changes in operating context. Operator attentional states represent a promising class of triggers for these adaptations. Behavioral indices may be a viable alternative to physiological correlates for triggering interface adaptations based on attentional state. METHOD: A visual search task sought to induce attentional tunneling in participants. We analyzed user interaction under tunnel and non-tunnel conditions to determine whether the paradigm was successful. We then examined the performance trade-offs stemming from attentional tunnels. Finally, we developed a machine learning classifier to identify patterns of interaction characteristics associated with attentional tunnels. RESULTS: The experimental paradigm successfully induced attentional tunnels. Attentional tunnels were shown to improve performance when information appeared within them, but to hinder performance when it appeared outside. Participants were found to be more tunneled in their second tunnel trial relative to their first. Our classifier achieved a classification accuracy similar to comparable studies (area under curve = 0.74). CONCLUSION: Behavioral indices can be used to infer attentional tunneling. There is a performance trade-off from attentional tunneling, suggesting the opportunity for adaptive systems. APPLICATION: This research applies to adaptive automation aimed at managing operator attention in information-dense work domains.
Asunto(s)
Adaptación Fisiológica , Atención , Automatización , Humanos , Aprendizaje AutomáticoRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: This paper analyzes the effects of anticipatory competence and driver experience on glance patterns towards visual cues that indicate conflict situations. BACKGROUND: Prior research has shown that experienced drivers' visual scanning patterns differ from those of novices. Experienced drivers are less erratic and more systematic in their monitoring of the environment. We have also shown in an earlier study that driving experience improves anticipatory competence in that it leads to a higher number of timely proactive actions in conflict-scenarios (avoidance actions prior to, as opposed to in reaction to a conflict). This paper investigates glance patterns specifically to relevant visual cues in conflict scenarios to determine whether glance patterns of anticipatory drivers who exhibit proactive actions differ from those who do not. It also investigates whether experienced drivers pay more attention to these cues compared to novices. METHOD: We conducted a simulator experiment with 24 experienced and 24 novice drivers. As part of the experiment, all drivers completed three distinct traffic scenarios, each with a conflict situation. RESULTS: The results show that drivers who exhibited proactive actions had more frequent and longer glances towards conflict-relevant cues than those who did not exhibit any. Similarly, experienced drivers focused on these visual cues more often, and for longer durations compared to novices. Further, experienced drivers who exhibited proactive actions looked at the cues more often compared to experienced drivers who did not exhibit any; there was no significant difference for novice drivers. CONCLUSION: These findings speak to the role of situation-specific visual cues for anticipatory competence, and to the importance of driver experience to aid in the interpretation of these cues. Future research should seek to confirm our findings in a wider variety of driving scenarios.
Asunto(s)
Conducción de Automóvil/psicología , Movimientos Oculares/fisiología , Adolescente , Adulto , Anciano , Simulación por Computador , Señales (Psicología) , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Factores de Tiempo , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: The authors seek to characterize the behavioral costs of attentional switches between points in a network map and assess the efficacy of interventions intended to reduce those costs. BACKGROUND: Cybersecurity network operators are tasked with determining an appropriate attentional allocation scheme given the state of the network, which requires repeated attentional switches. These attentional switches may result in temporal performance decrements, during which operators disengage from one attentional fixation point and engage with another. METHOD: We ran two experiments where participants identified a chain of malicious emails within a network. All interactions with the system were logged and analyzed to determine if users experienced disengagement and engagement delays. RESULTS: Both experiments revealed significant costs from attentional switches before (i.e., disengagement) and after (i.e., engagement) participants navigated to a new area in the network. In our second experiment, we found that interventions aimed at contextualizing navigation actions lessened both disengagement and engagement delays. CONCLUSION: Attentional switches are detrimental to operator performance. Their costs can be reduced by design features that contextualize navigations through an interface. APPLICATION: This research can be applied to the identification and mitigation of attentional switching costs in a variety of visual search tasks. Furthermore, it demonstrates the efficacy of noninvasive behavioral monitoring for inferring cognitive events.
Asunto(s)
Atención/fisiología , Seguridad Computacional , Sistemas de Computación , Desempeño Psicomotor/fisiología , Adulto , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
This article describes challenges encountered in applying Jens Rasmussen's Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) framework to the practice of energy efficiency Monitoring & Targeting (M&T). Eight theoretic issues encountered in the analysis are described with respect to Rasmussen's work and the modeling solutions we adopted. We grappled with how to usefully apply Work Domain Analysis (WDA) to analyze categories of domains with secondary purposes and no ideal grain of decomposition. This difficulty encouraged us to pursue Control Task (ConTA) and Strategies (StrA) analysis, which are under-explored as bases for interface design. In ConTA we found M&T was best represented by two interlinked work functions; one controlling energy, the other maintaining knowledge representations. From StrA, we identified a popular representation-dependent strategy and inferred information required to diagnose faults in system performance and knowledge representation. This article presents and discusses excerpts from our analysis, and outlines their application to diagnosis support tools.
Asunto(s)
Ciencia Cognitiva/métodos , Eficiencia , Fuentes Generadoras de Energía , Ergonomía/métodos , Análisis de Sistemas , Humanos , Interfaz Usuario-ComputadorRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effects of automatic target detection (ATD) on the detection and identification performance of soldiers. BACKGROUND: Prior studies have shown that highlighting targets can aid their detection. We provided soldiers with ATD that was more likely to detect one target identity than another, potentially acting as an implicit identification aid. METHOD: Twenty-eight soldiers detected and identified simulated human targets in an immersive virtual environment with and without ATD. Task difficulty was manipulated by varying scene illumination (day, night). The ATD identification bias was also manipulated (hostile bias, no bias, and friendly bias). We used signal detection measures to treat the identification results. RESULTS: ATD presence improved detection performance, especially under high task difficulty (night illumination). Identification sensitivity was greater for cued than uncued targets. The identification decision criterion for cued targets varied with the ATD identification bias but showed a "sluggish beta" effect. CONCLUSION: ATD helps soldiers detect and identify targets. The effects of biased ATD on identification should be considered with respect to the operational context. APPLICATION: Less-than-perfectly-reliable ATD is a useful detection aid for dismounted soldiers. Disclosure of known ATD identification bias to the operator may aid the identification process.
Asunto(s)
Personal Militar , Detección de Señal Psicológica/fisiología , Interfaz Usuario-Computador , Percepción Visual/fisiología , Adulto , Humanos , Masculino , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: This paper evaluates two different types of in-vehicle interfaces to support anticipation in driving: one aids attention allocation and the other aids interpretation of traffic in addition to attention allocation. BACKGROUND: Anticipation is a competency that has been shown to facilitate safety and eco-driving through the efficient positioning of a vehicle for probable, upcoming changes in traffic. This competency has been shown to improve with driving experience. In an earlier simulator study, we showed that compared to novice drivers, experienced drivers exhibited a greater number of timely actions to avoid upcoming traffic conflicts. In this study, we seek to facilitate anticipation in general and for novice drivers in particular, who appear to lack the competency. We hypothesize that anticipation depends on two major steps and that it can be supported by aiding each: (1) conscious perception of relevant cues, and (2) effective processing of these cues to create a situational assessment as a basis for anticipation of future developments. METHOD: We conducted a simulator experiment with 24 experienced and 24 novice drivers to evaluate two interfaces that were designed to aid the two hypothesized steps of anticipation. The attentional interface was designed to direct attention toward the most relevant cue. The interpretational interface represented several cues, and in addition to directing attention also aimed to aid sense-making of these cues. RESULTS: The results confirmed our hypothesis that novice drivers' anticipation performance, as measured through timely actions to avoid upcoming traffic conflicts, would be improved with either interface type. However, results contradicted our expectation that novice drivers would obtain larger improvements with the interpretational interface. Experienced drivers performed better than novice drivers to begin with and did not show any statistically significant improvements with either interface. CONCLUSION: Both interfaces improved anticipation performance for novice drivers. Future research should evaluate the effectiveness of these interfaces in a wider variety of driving conditions, such as when the driver is multitasking.
Asunto(s)
Anticipación Psicológica , Atención , Conducción de Automóvil , Automóviles , Señales (Psicología) , Adolescente , Adulto , Simulación por Computador , Humanos , Persona de Mediana Edad , Probabilidad , Seguridad , Interfaz Usuario-Computador , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
The Process Overview Measure is a query-based measure developed to assess operator situation awareness (SA) from monitoring process plants. A companion paper describes how the measure has been developed according to process plant properties and operator cognitive work. The Process Overview Measure demonstrated practicality, sensitivity, validity and reliability in two full-scope simulator experiments investigating dramatically different operational concepts. Practicality was assessed based on qualitative feedback of participants and researchers. The Process Overview Measure demonstrated sensitivity and validity by revealing significant effects of experimental manipulations that corroborated with other empirical results. The measure also demonstrated adequate inter-rater reliability and practicality for measuring SA in full-scope simulator settings based on data collected on process experts. Thus, full-scope simulator studies can employ the Process Overview Measure to reveal the impact of new control room technology and operational concepts on monitoring process plants. Practitioner Summary: The Process Overview Measure is a query-based measure that demonstrated practicality, sensitivity, validity and reliability for assessing operator situation awareness (SA) from monitoring process plants in representative settings.
Asunto(s)
Concienciación , Plantas de Energía Nuclear , Análisis y Desempeño de Tareas , Humanos , Investigación Operativa , Reproducibilidad de los ResultadosRESUMEN
We introduce Process Overview, a situation awareness characterisation of the knowledge derived from monitoring process plants. Process Overview is based on observational studies of process control work in the literature. The characterisation is applied to develop a query-based measure called the Process Overview Measure. The goal of the measure is to improve coupling between situation and awareness according to process plant properties and operator cognitive work. A companion article presents the empirical evaluation of the Process Overview Measure in a realistic process control setting. The Process Overview Measure demonstrated sensitivity and validity by revealing significant effects of experimental manipulations that corroborated with other empirical results. The measure also demonstrated adequate inter-rater reliability and practicality for measuring SA based on data collected by process experts. Practitioner Summary: The Process Overview Measure is a query-based measure for assessing operator situation awareness from monitoring process plants in representative settings.
Asunto(s)
Concienciación , Investigación Operativa , Conducta , Toma de Decisiones , Humanos , Reproducibilidad de los Resultados , Análisis y Desempeño de TareasRESUMEN
Query- or probe-based situation awareness (SA) measures sometimes rely on process experts to evaluate operator actions and system states when used in representative settings. This introduces variability of human judgement into the measurements that require inter-rater reliability assessment. However, the literature neglects inter-rater reliability of query/probe-based SA measures. We recruited process experts to provide reference keys to SA queries in trials of a full-scope nuclear power plant simulator experiment to investigate the inter-rater reliability of a query-based SA measure. The query-based SA measure demonstrated only 'moderate' inter-rater reliability even though the queries were seemingly direct. The level of agreement was significantly different across pairs of experts who had different levels of exposure to the experiment. The results caution that inter-rater reliability of query/probe-based techniques for measuring SA cannot be assumed in representative settings. Knowledge about the experiment as well as the domain is critical to forming reliable expert judgements. PRACTITIONER SUMMARY: When the responses of domain experts are treated as the correct answers to the queries or probes of SA measures used in representative or industrial settings, practitioners should take caution in assuming (or otherwise assess) inter-rater reliability of the situation awareness measures.
Asunto(s)
Concienciación , Simulación por Computador , Variaciones Dependientes del Observador , Análisis y Desempeño de Tareas , Investigación Empírica , Humanos , Plantas de Energía Nuclear/normas , Psicometría/métodos , Reproducibilidad de los ResultadosRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate display formats for an automated combat identification (CID) aid. BACKGROUND: Verbally informing users of automation reliability improves reliance on automated CID systems. A display can provide reliability information in real time. METHOD: We developed and tested four visual displays that showed both target identity and system reliability information. Display type (pie, random mesh) and display proximity (integrated, separated) of identity and reliability information were manipulated. In Experiment 1, participants used the displays while engaging targets in a simulated combat environment. In Experiment 2, participants briefly viewed still scenes from the simulation. RESULTS: Participants relied on the automation more appropriately with the integrated display than with the separated display. Participants using the random mesh display showed greater sensitivity than those using a pie chart. However, in Experiment 2, the sensitivity effects were limited to lower reliability levels. CONCLUSION: The integrated display format and the random mesh display were the most effective displays tested. APPLICATION: We recommend the use of the integrated format and a random mesh display to indicate identity and reliability information with an automated CID system.
Asunto(s)
Técnicas de Apoyo para la Decisión , Sistemas Hombre-Máquina , Ciencia Militar/métodos , Adulto , Simulación por Computador , Presentación de Datos , Humanos , Masculino , Reconocimiento Visual de Modelos , Tiempo de Reacción , Reproducibilidad de los Resultados , Análisis y Desempeño de Tareas , Interfaz Usuario-Computador , Guerra , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: We examined the effects of aid reliability and reliability disclosure on human trust in and reliance on a combat identification (CID) aid. We tested whether trust acts as a mediating factor between belief in and reliance on a CID aid. BACKGROUND: Individual CID systems have been developed to reduce friendly fire incidents. However, these systems cannot positively identify a target that does not have a working transponder. Therefore, when the feedback is "unknown", the target could be hostile, neutral, or friendly. Soldiers have difficulty relying on this type of imperfect automation appropriately. METHOD: In manual and aided conditions, 24 participants completed a simulated CID task. The reliability of the aid varied within participants, half of whom were told the aid reliability level. We used the difference in response bias values across conditions to measure automation reliance. RESULTS: Response bias varied more appropriately with the aid reliability level when it was disclosed than when not. Trust in aid feedback correlated with belief in aid reliability and reliance on aid feedback; however, belief was not correlated with reliance. CONCLUSION: To engender appropriate reliance on CID systems, users should be made aware of system reliability. APPLICATION: The findings can be applied to the design of information displays for individual CID systems and soldier training.
Asunto(s)
Técnicas de Apoyo para la Decisión , Sistemas Hombre-Máquina , Confianza , Simulación por Computador , Humanos , Reconocimiento Visual de Modelos , Reproducibilidad de los Resultados , Interfaz Usuario-Computador , GuerraRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: We determine whether an ecological interface display for nuclear power plant operations supports improved situation awareness over traditional and user-centered displays in a realistic environment. BACKGROUND: Ecological interface design (EID) has not yet been fully evaluated with real operators facing realistic scenarios. METHOD: Ecological displays were evaluated alongside traditional and user-centered "advanced" displays in a full-scope nuclear power plant simulation. Licensed plant operators used the displays in realistic scenarios that either had procedural support or did not have procedural support. All three displays were evaluated for their ability to support operator situation awareness. RESULTS: A significant three-way interaction effect was observed on two independent measures of situation awareness. For both measures, ecological displays improved situation awareness in scenarios that did not have procedural support, primarily in the detection phases of those scenarios. No other pronounced effects appeared across both measures. CONCLUSIONS: The observed improvement was sufficiently large to suggest that EID could improve situation awareness in situations where procedures are unavailable. However, the EID displays did not lead to improved situation awareness in the other conditions of the evaluation, and participants using these displays occasionally underperformed on single measures of situation awareness. This suggests that the approach requires further development, particularly in integrating EID with procedural support. APPLICATION: This research has important findings for the ongoing development of the EID approach, the design of industrial operator displays, and design to support situation awareness.
Asunto(s)
Sistemas Hombre-Máquina , Centrales Eléctricas/instrumentación , Interfaz Usuario-Computador , Simulación por Computador , Ecosistema , Diseño de Equipo , HumanosRESUMEN
In this article, we propose the application of a control-theoretic framework to human-automation interaction. The framework consists of a set of conceptual distinctions that should be respected in automation research and design. We demonstrate how existing automation interface designs in some nuclear plants fail to recognize these distinctions. We further show the value of the approach by applying it to modes of automation. The design guidelines that have been proposed in the automation literature are evaluated from the perspective of the framework. This comparison shows that the framework reveals insights that are frequently overlooked in this literature. A new set of design guidelines is introduced that builds upon the contributions of previous research and draws complementary insights from the control-theoretic framework. The result is a coherent and systematic approach to the design of human-automation-plant interfaces that will yield more concrete design criteria and a broader set of design tools. Applications of this research include improving the effectiveness of human-automation interaction design and the relevance of human-automation interaction research.