Identifying and Prioritising Operator Information Needs in the Design of an Overview Display

Overview Displays are a prominent feature of many control rooms. The aim is to provide a shared picture of the status of the service that is up-to-date and accurate, and promotes effective and efficient collaboration. This... [ view full abstract ]

Overview Displays are a prominent feature of many control rooms. The aim is to provide a shared picture of the status of the service that is up-to-date and accurate, and promotes effective and efficient collaboration. This leads to quick identification of adverse events, minimisation of disruption and efficient service recovery. To achieve this, the information needs of the operational staff must be sufficiently understood and expressed in a way that can inform a coherent design. Unfortunately, the design approach employed seldom realises the anticipated operational benefits as insufficient emphasis is given to operator needs. Instead the focus is on the 'look and feel' and ergonomics of the large-format display.

This paper describes an 'information needs analysis' methodology that can be used to capture and understand the elements that should be visible on an overview display. A case-study is used to illustrate its value and ease of use when applied to a real-world project.

The method is workshop-based and involves system developers and operational specialists. It has three central parts:
• Capture of the design intent for the overview display and the associated operational tasks;
• Description of the information elements that support these tasks;
• Prioritisation of the information elements for:
o Operational value and importance to system safety;
o Extent to which it supports each task.

The output from the workshop is a prioritised list of information elements weighted for importance in conveying an accurate picture of operational and safety status. These elements can be divided into three categories:
• ‘Priority’: information essential to a successful Overview Display design;
• ‘Significant’: useful information to be incorporated into the design if this can be achieved without compromising the conspicuity, salience and prominence of the priority information;
• ‘Not required’: analysis suggests this information does not support any of the tasks associated with the overview display.

The results from the information needs analysis can be used as the basis for a coherent design concept that emphasises operator information needs. In the case study the design concept was used to create a set of prototype displays. These were used to investigate graphic design issues and to determine what significant priority information could be incorporated into the overview display without compromising the display of the priority information.