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The performance of future designers on the specification of supervisory HCI: case study of a simulated work situation

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Abstract

This article concerns the performance of future designers on the specification of supervisory human–computer interfaces (HCI). This paper reports the results of a case study of a simulated work situation. Sixty-three groups of 3–5 students (Master’s program in Electrical Engineering and Industrial Informatics) were involved. In this article, we first describe the study context and explain how we ran it. Next, we describe the industrial process to be supervised, composed of five interconnected stations. We then present our informal analysis of the global study. After our informal analysis, the article focuses on a second level of analysis, based on the 63 HCI specification reports produced by the groups. Each report is analyzed according to eight groups of criteria. The results of this second-level analysis are presented and discussed.

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Notes

  1. It is important to note that the conditions of conduct of the course have not fundamentally changed over these 9 years.

  2. It is worth noting that the criteria were designed once all the 63 reports had been carefully read (these criteria were not used for a yearly assessment of the reports).

  3. These criteria were defined and proposed based on the experience of the first author (specialized in Human–Computer Interaction) and the third author (specialized in ergonomics) in the field of supervisory HMI design and evaluation. They teach in this area at different levels, and have both been doing so for around 20 years. Their courses are enriched by a set of field studies; that have published a set of documents in this area, including (Jeffroy and Sagar 1991; Sagar 2003; Kolski 1993, 1997; Ezzedine et al. 2008; Idoughi et al. 2010), while drawing on a rich literature (see references cited in the introduction). These criteria relate mostly to the themes in the module in question (Groups 1 to 7, cf. Table 1), but it is important to note that those in Group 8 (see Table 1) are taught in other courses (eg: courses in ergonomics, safety).

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Julien Fayolle, Philippe Vellemans and Laurent Wawrzyniak for their contribution in this project. They would like to thank the Nord/Pas-de-Calais Regional Council, the FEDER program, the CISIT project, and the French Ministry of Education, Research and Technology for their financial support of this research. The authors also thank the anonymous reviewers of the journal for their numerous constructive remarks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Univ Lille Nord de France, 59000, Lille, France

    Christophe Kolski, Pierre Loslever & Mouldi Sagar

  2. UVHC, LAMIH, 59313, Valenciennes, France

    Christophe Kolski, Pierre Loslever & Mouldi Sagar

  3. CNRS, FRE 5503, 59313, Valenciennes, France

    Christophe Kolski, Pierre Loslever & Mouldi Sagar

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  1. Christophe Kolski
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  2. Pierre Loslever
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  3. Mouldi Sagar
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Correspondence to Christophe Kolski.

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Kolski, C., Loslever, P. & Sagar, M. The performance of future designers on the specification of supervisory HCI: case study of a simulated work situation. Cogn Tech Work 14, 107–128 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-010-0169-9

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