Human Factors Issues in Designing Explanation Facilities for Expert Troubleshooting Systems

Abstract

Research has revealed that the extent to which users will utilize an advice-giving expert system is dependent on the quality of the system's explanation facility (Woods, 1986). Independent researchers have attempted to explore alternative explanation concepts by designing and building separate systems to test explanation facility theory. These efforts have focused primarily on the computational aspects of expert system design, leaving many of the central issues concerning human requirements of explanation facilities unresolved. This paper presents results of an extensive literature review designed to identify and define specific human factors issues which must be addressed to determine guidelines or standards for explanation facility design. The work described in this paper is part of an ongoing research program to develop guidelines for developers and users of expert troubleshooting systems (ETS).

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