Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A human-centred methodology applied to decision support system design and evaluation in a railway network context

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Cognition, Technology & Work Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article describes a methodological process for the design and evaluation of an interactive system in an industrial context. The process is called the U-model, and has been used in many projects since the early 1990s. The article describes a recent case study in which the U-model was adapted and used during a project involving the design of a decision support system intended for a railway investment context.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 8.
Fig. 9.
Fig. 10.
Fig. 11.
Fig. 12.
Fig. 13.
Fig. 14.
Fig. 15.
Fig. 16.
Fig. 17.
Fig. 18.

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The distribution of tasks is one of the points overlooked by current methods of task modelling. The division brings an element of a solution to establishing the link between the analysis and design stages, by identifying the agent or agents which will have the responsibility of executing the task in question (Balbo 1994; Buisine 1999; Paterno et al. 1997)

  2. This study uses twelve criteria, grouped together into three categories: (1) power of expression (2) generating capacities (3) extendibility and usability.

  3. These authors introduce four sequential stages in the choice of a formalism: (1) choice according to the activity (2) choice according to the appropriateness of models (3) choice according to the power of expression (4) choice according to the degree of usability.

  4. Usefulness concerns the appropriateness which exists between the functions supplied by the system and those necessary for the user to perform the tasks assigned to him correctly. It is linked more to the functionalities of the software.

  5. Usability takes into account the quality of the man-machine interaction in terms of ease of learning and use, as well as documentation (Grislin and Kolski 1997). Generally speaking, the addition to the human-machine interface of functionalities intended to make for easier use sometimes has the opposite effect of complicating the user's task (Palanque 1997). Scapin and Bastien (1997) prefer to use the term "ergonomic quality" of interactive software to show that as much interest is given to the functionalities of the software as to its interface.

  6. Further information concerning the methods of confrontation using algorithms based on the Petri net theory is to be found in Bernard (1994), Palanque (1997) and Abed (2001).

References

  • Abed M (1990) Contribution à la modélisation de la tâche par outils de spécification exploitant les mouvements oculaires: application à la conception et à l'évaluation des interfaces homme-machine. Dissertation, Université de Valenciennes et du Hainaut-Cambrésis, France

  • Abed M (2001) Méthodes et modèles formels et semi-formels pour la conception et l'évaluation des systèmes homme-machine. Habilitation thesis, Université de Valenciennes et du Hainaut-Cambrésis, France

  • Abed M, Angué JC (1990) Using the measure of eye movements to modelize an operator's activity. In: Proceedings of the Ninth European Annual Conference on Human Decision Making and Manual Control, Varese, Italy, 10–12 September 1990

  • Abed M, Angué JC (1994) A new method for conception, realisation and evaluation of man-machine. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on System, Man and Cybernetics, IEEE SMC-94, San Antonio, TX, 2–5 October 1994

  • Abed M, Bernard JM, Angue JC (1991) Task analysis and modelization by using SADT and PETRI networks. In: Proceedings of the Tenth European Annual Conference on Human Decision Making and Manual Control, Liège, Belgium, 11–13 November 1991

  • Amalberti R (1997) Human error in aviation. In: Proceedings of the International Aviation Safety Conference (IASC-97), Utrecht, 27–29 August 1997

  • Arlat J (1995) Guide de la sûreté de fonctionnement. Cépaduès, Toulouse

  • Bainbridge L (1978) The process controller. In: Singleton WT (ed) The analysis of practical skills, M.T.P. Press, Lancaster, UK

  • Balbo S (1994) Evaluation ergonomique des interfaces utilisateur: un pas vers l'automatisation. Dissertation, Université de Grenoble

    Google Scholar 

  • Bastien JM, Scapin DL (2001) Evaluation des systèmes d'information et critères ergonomiques. In: Kolski C (ed) Environnements évolués et évaluation de l'IHM, Interaction Homme Machine pour les SI, Vol. 2. Éditions Hermes, Paris

  • Bernard JM (1994) Exploitation des mesures oculométriques dans la modélisation de la tâche prescrite et de l'activité réelle des opérateurs par réseaux de Petri. Dissertation, Université de Valenciennes et du Hainaut-Cambrésis

  • Bodart F, Hennebert AM, Leheureux JM, Provot I, Sacré B and Vanderdonckt J (1995) Towards a systematic building of software architectures: the trident methodological guide. In: Proceedings of the Eurographics Workshop on Design, Specification, and Verification of Interactive Systems (DSV-IS'95), Château de Bonas, France, 7–9 June 1995

  • Boehm BW (1981) Software engineering economics. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ

  • Boehm BW, Gray TE and Seewaldt T (1984) Prototyping versus specifying: a multiproject experiment. IEEE Trans Soft Engin 10(3):290–303

    Google Scholar 

  • Booch G (1994) Conception orientée objets et applications, 2nd edn. Addition-Wesley, Reading, MA

  • Brun P (1998) XTL: une logique temporelle pour la spécification formelle des systèmes interactifs. Dissertation, Université Paris XI Orsay

  • Buisine A (1999) Vers une démarche industrielle pour le développement d'interfaces homme-machine. Dissertation, Université de Rouen, France

  • Cacciabue PC, Decortis F, Drozdowicz B, Masson M and Nordvik JP (1992) COSIMO: a cognitive simulation model of human decision making and behavior in accident management of complex plants. IEEE Trans Sys Man Cybern 22(5):1058–1074

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coutaz J (1995) Interaction homme-machine: points d'ancrage entre ergonomie et génie logiciel. In: Proceedings of Design'95, 4ème table ronde francophone sur la conception, Autrans, France, 11–13 January 1995

  • Curtis B, Hefley B (1994) A WIMP no more, the maturing of user interface engineering. Interactions 1(1):22–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • David R, Alla H (1994) Petri nets for modeling dynamic systems, a survey. Automatica 30:175–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Keyser V, Decortis F, Housiaux A and Van Daele A (1987) Les communications homme-machine dans les systèmes complexes. Rapport politique scientifique FAST no. 8, University of Liège, Belgium

  • DeMarco T (1979) Structured analysis and system specification. Yourdon Press, Englewood Cliffs, NJ—Prentice–Hall, New York

  • Dix A, Finlay J, Abowd G and Beale R (1998) Human-computer interaction, second edition. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ

  • ESA (1991) Software engineering standards, ESA PSS-05–0. Issue 2, February, European Space Agency

  • Ezzedine H, Abed M (1997) Une méthode d'évaluation d'interface homme-machine de supervision d'un procédé industriel. JESA 31(7):1078–1110

    Google Scholar 

  • Fadier E (1990) Fiabilité humaine: méthodes d'analyse et domaines d'application. In: Leplat J, De Terssac G (eds) Les facteurs humains de la fiabilité dans les systèmes complexes, Edition Octarés, Marseille

  • Farenc C, Barthet MF and Liberati V (1996) Automatic ergonomic evaluation: which are the limits. In: Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Computer-Aided Design of User Interfaces (CADUI'96), Namur, Belgium, 5–7 June 1996

  • Fekete JD, Girard P (2001) Environnements de développement de systèmes interactifs. In: Kolski C (ed) Environnements évolués et évaluation de l'IHM, Interaction homme-machine pour les SI 2, Hermes, Paris, pp 23–52

  • Florio L, Mussone L (1995) A method of capacity computation for complex railway systems. In: Proceedings of the World Conference on Transport Research, Sydney, Australia, 16–21 July 1995

  • Florio L, Mussone L (1998) An analytical model for the simultaneous calculation of capacity of lines, junctions and station tracks. In: Mellit B, Hill RJ, Allan J, Scuittio G and Brebbia CA (eds) Computers in railways VI, WIT Press, Wessex, UK

  • Fontaine M, Gauyacq D (2001) SISYFE: a toolbox to simulate the railway network functioning for many purposes. Some cases of application. In: Proceedings of the World Congress on Railway Research, Cologne, Germany, November 2001

  • Fréjus M (1999) Analyser l'activité d'explication pour concevoir en terme d'aide: application à la formation et à la négociation commerciale. Dissertation, Université Paris 5

  • Gamboa-Rodrìguez F, Scapin D (1997) Editing MAD* task descriptions for specifying interfaces at both semantic and presentation levels. In: Proceedings of DSV-IS'97, Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York

  • Grislin M, Kolski C (1997) Proposition d'une démarche d'évaluation a priori des interfaces homme-machine: application aux étapes de spécification fonctionnelle et de conception préliminaire. RAIRO-APII-JESA 31:1111–1154

  • Grudin J (1992) Utility and usability: research issues and development contexts. Interact Comp 4(2):209–217

    Google Scholar 

  • Hachemane P (1997) Evaluation de la capacité de réseaux ferroviaires. Dissertation, Ecole polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

  • Harrison MD, Duke DJ (1994) A review of formalisms for describing interactive behaviour. In: Proceedings of ICSE'94, the Workshop on Software Engineering and Human Computer Interaction, Sorrento, Italy, 16–17 May 1994

  • Hartson HR, Boehm-Davis D (1993) User interface development processes and methodologies. Behav Info Technol 12(2):98–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Hassl DF (1965) Advanced concepts in fault tree analysis. In: Proceedings of the System Safety Symposium, Seattle, WA, 8–9 June 1965

  • Hatley DJ, Pirbhai IA (1991) Stratégies de spécification des systèmes temps réel (SA-RT). Editions Masson, Paris

  • Helander M, Landauer TK and Prabhu P (eds) Handbook of human-computer interaction. Elsevier, New York

  • Hix D (1995) Usability evaluation: how does it relate to software engineering? In: Anzai Y, Ogawa K and Mori H (eds) Symbiosis of human and artifact: human and social aspects of human-computer interaction, Elsevier, New York

  • Hix D, Hartson HR (1993) Developing user interface: ensuring usability through product & process. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoc JM, Samurcay R (1992) An ergonomic approach to knowledge representation. Reliab Engin Sys Safe 36:217–230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hollnagel E, Cacciabue PC (1999) Cognition, technology & work: an introduction. Cog Technol Work 1:1–6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jambon F, Brun P, Aït-Ameur Y (2001) Spécification des systèmes interactifs. In: Kolski C (ed) Analyse et conception de l'IHM, Interaction Homme Machine pour les SI, Vol. 1, Paris: Éditions Hermes

  • Jaulent P (1990) Génie logiciel, les méthodes. Armand Colin, Paris

  • Johnson H, Johnson P (1991) Task knowledge structures: psychological basis and integration into system design. Acta Psychologica 78:3–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson P (1999) Theory based design: from individual users and tasks to collaborative systems. In: Vanderdonckt J, Puerta A (eds) Computer-aided design of user interfaces II (CADUI'99), Kluwer, Amsterdam

  • Kolski C (1997) Interfaces homme-machine application aux systèmes industriels complexes. Hermes, Paris

  • Kolski C (1998) A call for answers around the proposition of an HCI-enriched model. ACM SIGSOFT SE Notes 3:93–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolski C, Millot P (1991) A rule-based approach to the ergonomic "static" evaluation of man-machine graphic interface in industrial processes. Int J Man-Mach Stud 35:657–674

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolski C, Riera B and Berger T (2000). A questionnaire-based discount evaluation method using guidelines for process control interactive applications. In: Vanderdonckt J, Farenc C (eds) Proceedings of Tools for Working With Guidelines TFWWG'2000, Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York

  • Kolski C, Ezzedine H and Abed M (2001) Développement du logiciel: des cycles classiques aux cycles enrichis sous l'angle des IHM. In: Kolski C (ed) Analyse et conception de l'IHM, Interaction Homme-machine pour les SI, Hermes, Paris

  • Lepreux S, Abed M, Kolski C, Jung S and Legendre M (2001) A methodology for decision support system design in railway capacity evaluation. In: Morten L (ed) Proceedings of the 20th European Annual Conference on Human Decision Making and Manual Control, EAM2001, Copenhagen, Denmark, 25–27 June 2001

  • Lichter H, Schneider-Hufschmidt M and Zullighoven H (1994) Prototyping in industrial software projects: bridging the gap between theory and practice. IEEE Trans Sort Engin 20(11):825–832

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lim KY, Long JB (1994) The MUSE method for usability engineering. Cambridge series on human-computer interaction, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK

  • Lind M (1990) Representing goals and functions of complex systems: an introduction to multilevel flow modelling. In: Proceedings of the 2nd European Meeting on Cognitive Science Approaches to Process Control, Siena, Italy, October 1990

  • Lu S, Paris C and Van der Linden K (1999) Towards the automatic generation of task models from object oriented diagrams. In: Dewan P, Chatty S (eds) Proceedings of the IFIP Working Conference on Engineering for Human-Computer Interaction, Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 14–18 September 1999, Kluwer, pp 169–190

  • Macaulay LA (1996) Requirements engineering. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York

  • Maguire M (2001) Methods to support human-centred design. Int J Hum Comp Stud 55:587–634

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marca DA, McGowan CL (1988) SADT: structured analysis and design technique. McGraw-Hill, New York

  • McDermid J, Ripkin K (1984) Life cycle support in the ADA environment. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK

  • McGee S, Howard B (1998) Evaluating educational multimedia in the context of use. J Univ Comp Sci 4:273–291

    Google Scholar 

  • McKenna S (1996) Evaluating IMM: issues for researchers. Open Learning Institute, 1996. http://www.csu.edu.au/division/OLI. Cited 1996

  • Millot P (1988) Supervision des procédés automatisés et ergonomie. Editions Hermes, Paris

  • Millot P, Debernard S (1993) Men-machines cooperative organizations: methodologicial and practical attempts in air traffic control. In: Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, Le Touquet, France, 17–20 October 1993

  • Millot P, Roussillon E (1991) Man-machine cooperation in telerobotics: problematics and methodologies. In: Proceedings of the Second Symposium on Robotics, Institut National des Sciences et Techniques Nucléaires, Gif sur Yvette, France, April 1991

  • Moray N (1997) Human factors in process control. In: Salvendy G (ed) Handbook of human factors and ergonomics, Wiley, New York

  • Moussa F, Kolski C and Riahi M (2000) A model based approach to semi-automated user interface generation for process control interactive applications. Interact Comp 12:(3):245–279

    Google Scholar 

  • Muller MJ, Haslwanter JH and Dayton T (1997) Participatory practices in the software lifecycle. In: Helander M, Landauer TK, Prabhu P (eds) Handbook of human-computer interaction, Elsevier, New York

  • Myers BA (1993) State of the art in user interface software tools. In: Hartson HR and Hix D (eds) Advances in human-computer interaction, Ablex Publishing, Norwood, NJ

  • Myers BA (1995) User interface software tools. ACM Trans Comp-Hum Inter 2:64–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Nardi B (ed) Context and consciousness: activity theory and human-computer interaction. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

  • Navarre D, Palanque P and Bastide R (2003) Beyond modelling: a formal and tool supported technique for the iterative and synergistic modelling and cross validation of tasks and system. Interact Comp (in press)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen J (1993) Usability engineering. Academic, Boston, MA

  • Nielsen J, Mack RL (1994) Usability inspection methods. Wiley, New York

  • Nielsen J, Molich R (1990) Heuristic evaluation of user interfaces. In: Proceedings of the CHI'90 Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, Seattle, WA, April 1990

  • Norman DA (1986) Cognitive engineering. In: Norman DA, Draper SW (eds) User centred system design: new perspectives on human computer interaction, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ

  • Olson JR, Rueter HH (1987) Extracting expertise from experts: methods for knowledge acquisition. Exp Sys 4(3):152–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Palanque P (1997) Spécification formelles et systèmes interactifs: vers des systèmes fiables et utilisables. Habilitation, l'Université de Toulouse I

  • Paternò F (2000) Model-based design and evaluation of interactive applications. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York

  • Paternò F, Mancini C and Meniconi S (1997) ConcurTaskTress: a diagrammatic notation for specifying task models. In: Proceedings of Interact'97, Chapman & Hall, London

  • Paulhac G, Jung S, Abed M, Kolski C, Lepreux S and Legendre M (2001) Outil d'aide à la conception des infrastructures ferroviaires. Final research report, PREDIT project, CORYS-LAMIH-RFF

  • Poltrock S, Grundin J (1995) A survey of systems and behavioural issues. In: Proceedings of the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Denver, CO, 7–11 May 1995

  • Preece J, Rogers Y, Sharp H, Benyon D, Holland S and Carey T (1994) Human-computer interaction. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA

  • Rasmussen J (1986) Information processing and human-machine interaction, an approach to cognitive engineering. Elsevier, New York

  • Reason J (1988) Cognitive aids in process environments: prostheses or tools? In: Hollnagel E, Mancini G and Woods DW (eds) Cognitive engineering in complex dynamic worlds, Academic, London

  • Recht JL (1966) Failure mode and effect. National Safety Council, USA

  • Rubin KS, Jones PM and Mitchell CM (1988) OFMspert: inference of operator intentions in supervisory control using a blackboard architecture. IEEE Trans Sys Man Cybern 18:618–637

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scapin DL, Bastien JMC (1997) Ergonomic criteria for evaluating the ergonomic quality of interactive systems. Behav Info Technol 16:220–231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scapin DL, Pierret-Golbreich C (1990) Towards a method for task description: MAD. In: Berlinguet L, Berthelette D (eds) Proceedings of Work with Display Units 89, Elsevier, New York

  • Sebillotte S (1995) Methodology guide to task analysis with the goal of extracting relevant characteristics for human-computer interfaces. Int J Hum Comp Interact 7:341–363

    Google Scholar 

  • Senach B (1990) Evaluation ergonomique des interfaces homme-machine: une revue de la literature. Research report, INRIA

  • Shackel B (1991) Usability, context, framework, definition, design and evaluation. In: Shackel B, Richardson S (eds) Human factors for informatics usability, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK

  • Singleton WT (1974) Man-machine systems. Penguin, Harmondsworth, UK

  • Smith SL, Mosier JN (1986) Guidelines for designing user interface software. Report EDS-TR-86–278, The MITRE Corporation, Bedford, MA

  • SOFRERAIL (1992) SOFTIME computer aided timetable design. Research report, SOFRERAIL

  • Sommerville I (1994) Le génie logiciel, 4ème édition. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA

  • Sperandio JC (1991) Les méthodes d'analyse du travail en psychologie ergonomique. In: Rossi JP (ed) La recherche en psychologie (domaines et méthodes), Bordas, Paris

  • Szekely P (1996) Retrospective and challenges for model-based interface development. In: Proceedings of the Eurographics Workshop, Namur, Belgium, 5–7 June 1996

  • Tabary D (2001) Contribution à TOOD, une méthode à base de modèles pour la spécification et la conception des systèmes interactifs. Dissertation, Université de Valenciennes et du Hainaut-Cambrésis

  • Tarby JC, Barthet MF (1996) The DIANE+ method. In: Vanderdonckt J (ed) Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Computer-Aided Design of User Interfaces (CADUI'96), Presses Universitaires de Namur, Namur, Belgium

  • Thayer RH, McGettrick AD (eds) Software engineering: a European perspective. IEEE Computer Society Press, New York

  • Theureau J (1992) Le cours d'action: analyse sémio-logique. Essai d'une anthropologie cognitive située. Peter Lang, Bern, Switzerland

  • Theureau J, Jeffroy F (1994) Ergonomie des situations informatisées: la conception centrée sur le cours d'action. Editions Octarès, Toulouse, France

  • Tijus CA, Poiternaud S (1996) Propriétés, objets, procédures: les réseaux sémantiques d'action appliqué à la représentation des dispositifs techniques. Le Travail Humain 59:209–229

    Google Scholar 

  • UIC (1979) Méthode destinée à determiner la capacité de lignes, code 405, Research Report, UIC

  • Van-eylen H, Hiraclides G (1996) GRAAL: en quête d'une démarche de développement d'interface utilisateur. Collection Méthode, Angkor Editions, Paris

  • Vanderdonckt J (1994) Guide ergonomique des interfaces homme-machine. Presses Universitaires de Namur, Namur, Belgium

  • Villemeur A (1992) Reliability, availability, maintainability and safety assessment (vols.1 and 2). Wiley, Chichester, UK

  • Wehner T, Clases H and Bachmann C (2000) Cooperation at work: a process-oriented perspective on joint activity in inter-organizational relations. Ergonomics 43:983–998

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson JR, Corlett EN (eds) Evaluation of human works: a practical ergonomics methodology, 2nd edn. Taylor & Francis, London

  • Woods DD (1986) Cognitive technologies: the design of joint human-machine systems. AI 6(4):86–92

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers of this paper for their constructive comments, as well as Michel Legendre (RFF, Paris), Serge Jung, Gérard Paulhac and Jacques Moncorgé (CORYS TESS, Grenoble) for the fruitful exchanges throughout the INFRAFER project, leading to the design and evaluation of the system. The authors would also like to thank Caroline Guillaume-Blaydes for her help in translating this paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d'Automatique, de Mécanique et d'Informatique, Industrielles et Humaines, Le Mont-Houy University of Valenciennes, LAMIH-UMR CNRS 8530, 59313, Valenciennes, France

    S. Lepreux, M. Abed & C. Kolski

Authors
  1. S. Lepreux
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. Abed
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. C. Kolski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Lepreux.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lepreux, S., Abed, M. & Kolski, C. A human-centred methodology applied to decision support system design and evaluation in a railway network context. Cogn Tech Work 5, 248–271 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-003-0128-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-003-0128-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation