Depth of processing and design-assessment of ecological interfaces: Task analysis

Despite the cognitive vocation of a number of studies on the comparison of interfaces in sensitive industrial sectors such as the nuclear sector, and in spite of the presentation of new frameworks for both task analysis and reducing the mental load, one vital question remains: how does psychology enter into these studies? Very often the principle of depth of processing is the basis for interface design-assessment approaches in operating situations like those of nuclear reactors. This then justifies the use of a methodology based on recall. After presenting how this principle, which stems from the memory field, is the basis for the different interface designs recently proposed in the literature and the validation approach associated to these technical propositions, we present a pressurized water reactor operating situation that demonstrates the same willingness to act on reasoning through information displays. For powering up conditions, we show how integration of different representational levels has been achieved, and provide evidence for a Physical vs. a Physical and Functional display. All these features indirectly show that recent proposals on ecological interface design have some validity for real work situations, provided a context is selected. Finally, from this analysis, we define, by considering success as the limits of past experience, the conditions under which a recall technique can be used to demonstrate the efficiency of these new tools. © 1999 Academic Press