Cognitive Systems Engineering

The first comprehensive guide to designing highly usable, fully integrated computer-based information systems. Traditional human-computer interaction (HCI) and system design models have proven too narrow to adequately assess user needs and to design usable and efficient computer-based information support systems. Taking modeling concepts from engineering, psychology, cognitive science, information science, and computer science, cognitive systems engineering (CSE) provides a much broader, more dynamic framework. This book is the first comprehensive guide to the emerging new field of cognitive systems engineering. Throughout, the emphasis is on powerful analytical techniques that enhance the systems designer's ability to see the "big picture," and to design for all crucial aspects of human-work interaction. Applicable to highly structured technical systems such as process plants, as well as less structured user-driven systems like libraries, these analytical techniques form the basis for the design and design evaluation guidelines that make up the bulk of this book. The authors also provide a chapter-length case history in which they chronicle the success of their approach when applied to a full-scale software design project.