Ecological interface design (EID) is an approach to interface design that was introduced specifically for complex sociotechnical, real-time, and dynamic systems. It has been applied in a variety of domains including process control (e.g. nuclear power plants, petrochemical plants), aviation, and medicine.
EID differs from some interface design methodologies like user-centered design (UCD) in that the focus of the analysis is on the work domain or environment, rather than on the end user or a specific task.
The goal of EID is to make constraints and complex relationships in the work environment perceptually evident (e.g. visible, audible) to the user. This allows more of users' cognitive resources to be devoted to higher cognitive processes such as problem solving and decision making. EID is based on two key concepts from cognitive engineering and cognitive systems engineering research: the Abstraction Hierarchy (AH) and the Skills, Rules, Knowledge (SRK) framework.
By reducing mental workload and supporting knowledge-based reasoning, EID aims to improve user performance and overall system reliability for both anticipated and unanticipated events in a complex system.
Overview
Origin and history of EID
Ecological interface design was proposed as a framework for interface design by Kim Vicente and Jens Rasmussen in the late 1980s and early 1990s following extensive research into human-system reliability at the Risø National Laboratory in Denmark (Rasmussen & Vicente et al, 1989; Vicente, 2001). The term ecological in EID originates from a school of psychology developed by James J. Gibson known as ecological psychology. This field of psychology focuses on human-environment relationships, in particular in relation to human perception in actual environments rather than in laboratory environments. EID borrows from ecological psychology in that the constraints and relationships of the work environment in a complex system are reflected perceptually (through an interface) in order to shape user behaviour. In order to develop ecological designs, analytical tools developed earlier by researchers at the Risø National Laboratory were adopted, including the Abstraction Hierarchy (AH) and the Skills, Rules, Knowledge (SRK) framework. The EID framework was first applied and evaluated in nuclear power plant systems (Vicente & Rasmussen, 1990, 1992). These tools are also used in cognitive work analysis. To date, EID has been applied in a variety of complex systems including computer network management, anaesthesiology, military command and control, and aircraft (Vicente, 2002; Burns & Hajdukiewicz, 2004).
Motivation
Rapid advances in technologies along with economic demands have led to a noticeable increase in the complexity of engineering systems (Vicente, 1999a). As a result, it is becoming more and more difficult for designers to anticipate events that may occur within such systems. Unanticipated events by definition cannot be specified in advance and thus cannot be prevented through training, procedures, or automation. A complex sociotechnical system designed based solely on known scenarios frequently loses the flexibility to support unforeseen events. System safety is often compromised by the operators' inability to adapt to new and unfamiliar situations (Vicente & Rasmussen, 1992). Ecological interface design attempts to provide the operators with the necessary tools and information to become active problem solvers as opposed to passive monitors, particularly during the development of unforeseen events. Interfaces designed following the EID framework aim to lessen mental workload when dealing with unfamiliar and unanticipated events, which are attributed to increased psychological pressure (Vicente, 1999b). In doing so, cognitive resources may be freed up to support efficient problem solving.