Micro Task Evaluation of Digital Process Control Displays

Abstract

An important aspect in evaluating modern digital control rooms is to assess if control room interfaces support efficient information acquisition by the operators. Interface efficiency is an indicator of good interface design and can therefore help in judging if conditions are right to support good operator decision making and maintenance of situation awareness. This report describes the results of a micro task data collection where 12 operators each performed 36 relatively simple control room tasks. Performance time for each task was measured. Tasks were categorized according to the type of component or system that was used, as well as if they were knowledge-based or simple identification. Results show consistently low performance times for most components. As expected, knowledge-based tasks required more time.