Information Complexity in Air Traffic Control Disp

InformationComplexityinAirTrafficControlDisplaysJingXingCivilAerospaceMedicalInstituteFederalAviationAdministrationOklahomaCity,OK73125September2007FinalReportDOT/FAA/AM-07/26OfficeofAerospaceMedicineWashington,DC20591NOTICEThisdocumentisdisseminatedunderthesponsorshipoftheU.S.DepartmentofTransportationintheinterestofinformationexchange.TheUnitedStatesGovernmentassumesnoliabilityforthecontentsthereof.___________ThispublicationandallOfficeofAerospaceMedicinetechnicalreportsareavailableinfull-textfromtheCivilAerospaceMedicalInstitute’spublicationsWebsite:(s)8.PerformingOrganizationReportNo.XingJ9.PerformingOrganizationNameandAddress10.WorkUnitNo.(TRAIS)FAACivilAerospaceMedicalInstituteP.O.Box2508211.ContractorGrantNo.OklahomaCity,OK7312512.SponsoringAgencynameandAddress13.TypeofReportandPeriodCoveredOfficeofAerospaceMedicineFederalAviationAdministration800IndependenceAve.,S.W.Washington,DC2059114.SponsoringAgencyCode15.SupplementalNotesWorkwasaccomplishedunderapprovedtaskHRRD52216.AbstractAirtrafficcontrollerstypicallyusevisualdisplaystointeractwithvariousautomationsystems.Automationtoolsareintendedtoreducecontrollertaskload,buttheymayalsocreatenewtasksassociatedwithacquiring,integrating,andutilizinginformationfromdisplays.Consequently,thecomplexityofinformationdisplayedmayreducetheefficiencyandeffectivenessofanautomationsystem.Moreover,complexitycouldcausecontrollerstomissormisinterpretvisualdata,therebyreducingsafety.Thus,informationcomplexityinairtrafficcontrol(ATC)displaysrepresentsapotentialbottleneckinATCsystems.Toevaluatethecostandbenefitofanautomationsystem,itisimportanttounderstandwhethertheinformationitprovidesistoocomplexforcontrollerstoprocess.Thepurposeofthisstudywastoanswerthreebasicquestions:1)Whatconstitutesinformationcomplexityinautomationdisplays?2)Whatlevelofdisplaycomplexityis“toocomplex”forcontrollers?3)CanweobjectivelymeasureinformationcomplexityinATCdisplays?Inthisstudy,wefirstdevelopedageneralframeworkformeasuringinformationcomplexity.Theframeworkreducestheconceptofcomplexityintothreeunderlyingfactors:quantity,variety,andtherelationsbetweenbasicinformationelements;eachfactorisevaluatedatthreegenericstagesofhumaninformationprocessing:perception,cognition,andaction.Bythisdefinition,wedecomposecomplexityintoa3x3matrix,measuringtheeffectsofacomplexityfactoroninformationprocessingatagivenstage.WethentakethefollowingstepstodevelopcomplexitymetricsforATCdisplays:1)IdentifytaskrequirementsofusingthedisplaysinATC;2)Determinecorrespondingbrainfunctionspertinenttothetaskrequirements;and3)Choosethemetricthatcanmeasuretheeffectsofthecomplexityfactoronthebrainfunctions.Usingthisapproach,wedevelopedninemetricsofATCdisplaycomplexity.Thesemetricsprovideanobjectivemethodtoevaluateautomationdisplaysforacquisitionevaluationanddesignprototypes.17.KeyWords18.DistributionStatementInformationComplexity,Display,InterfaceDesign,Evaluation,AirTrafficControlDocumentisavailabletothepublicthroughtheDefenseTechnicalInformationCenter,Ft.Belvior,VA22060;andtheNationalTechnicalInformationService,Springfield,VA2216119.SecurityClassif.(ofthisreport)20.SecurityClassif.(ofthispage)21.No.ofPages22.PriceUnclassifiedUnclassified19FormDOTF1700.7(8-72)ReproductionofcompletedpageauthorizediiiACKNOWLEDGMENTSTheauthorthanksDr.CarolManningforherconsultationsthroughoutthisstudy.Thanks,also,toDrs.LawrenceBailey,BenWillems,PamDellaRoccco,andEarlSteinfortheirsuggestionsandadvice.AdditionalthanksgotoDinoPiccione,SteveCooley,andPaulKroisfortheirsupportoftheFederalAviationAdministration’srequirementsforinformationcomplexityresearch.Finally,theauthorexpressesappreciationfortheFederalAviationAdministrationinternalreviewers,whosecommentsgreatlyimprovedthequalityofthispaper.vCONTENTSINTRODUCTION.............................................................1IDENTIFYINGCOMPLEXITYMETRICS.........................................2Methods..................................................................2Results...................................................................2UnderstandingInformationComplexity..........................................2AFrameworkforDecomposingFactorsofInformationComplexity.....................3MetricsofInformationComplexityforATCDisplays...............................4PerceptualComplexity.......................................................4CognitiveComplexity........................................................7ActionComplexity..........................................................8APRELIMINARYCASESTUDY:ASSESSINGTHECOGNITIVECOMPLEXITYOFTHEMICROSOFTPOWERPOINTINTERFACE...................................9Methods.................................................................10Results.......................................