Proceedings Of The Marine

SUM 2015

Proceedings magazine is a communication tool for the Coast Guard's Marine Safety & Security Council. Each quarterly magazine focuses on a specific theme of interest to the marine industry.

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43 Summer 2015 Proceedings www.uscg.mil/proceedings are diffcult to use, hard to understand, or with awkward operator controls, can provoke irri- tation or even encourage passivity, leading to potentially unsafe situations. In such situations, users typically spend a great deal of time and effort learning how to use, or to "get around" poorly designed systems. It is essential that systems augment human abilities rather than replace them, and support users in their tasks. Navigation System Design The question remains though, why are some navigation systems, even on a modern ship's bridge, so poorly designed? Granted, design- ers are generally technically oriented and focus most on functional requirements. Therefore, they may view "usability" as being less impor- tant. Designers may also lack knowledge about how to apply human-centered design. In these instances, design deficiencies may become training issues, with the ship owner or opera- tor absorbing most of these costs. 3 Key Principles For Human-Centered Design HCD is to some extent synonymous with a risk-based approach that uses multiple procedures to identify usability risks and reveal the critical information users require to work safely. No Key Principle Description 1 User focus The goals of the activity, the work domain or context of use, the users' goals, tasks and needs should guide the development. 2 Active user involvement Representative users should actively participate, early and continuously throughout the entire development process and throughout the system life cycle. 3 Evolutionary systems development The systems development should be both iterative and incremental. 4 Simple design representations The design must be represented in such ways that it can be easily understood by users and all other stakeholders. 5 Prototyping Early and continuously, prototypes should be used to visualize and evaluate ideas and design solutions in cooperation with the end users. 6 Evaluate use in context Baselined usability goals and design criteria should control the development. 7 Explicit and conscious design activities The development process should contain dedicated design activities. 8 A professional attitude The development process should be performed by efective multidisciplinary teams. 9 Usability champion Usability experts should be involved early and continuously throughout the development lifecycle. 10 Holistic design All aspects that infuence the future use situation should be developed in parallel. 11 Processes customization The HCD process must be specifed, adapted and/or implemented locally in each organization. 12 User-centred attitude A user-centred attitude should always be established. Key principles for user-centred design, v.1.2en, © Jan Gulliksen & Bengt Goransson, 2003. Reprinted with permission. A vessel's engine control station features two identical arrays to control the two propellers. On either side of the order levers are 18 push buttons, 11 of which have assigned functions. These pushbuttons are identical in shape, color, and lettering, and each has a red LED in the upper left corner that illuminates according to functional status. The identical color, luminosity, and size may confuse users. Image courtesy of the United Kingdom's Department of Transportation Marine Accident Investigation Branch.

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