Panel Discussion Cognitive Engineering: Will They Know Our Name When We Are 40?

This panel discussion will examine the societal awareness of cognitive engineering today. Cognitive engineering celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2018 at the HFES annual meeting. Still, some would say that cognitive engineering is not as well-known as it should be, and that it is applied in an ad hoc manner in the many high-stakes, high-risk technology modernization efforts where it would be useful. As technology advances proliferate for sharp end of the spear decision makers, we are at risk of catastrophic results if CE remains in the shadows; these results are arguably emerging on a daily basis. Each panelist will describe, from their vantage point, CE’s state of the art today, thoughts on barriers to acceptance and application, and how they envision we act towards a future in 2028 in which cognitive engineers engage systematically in complex systems’ development.

A Work-Centered Approach to System User-Evaluation

New systems are often based on optimistic assumptions of how they will improve human performance. In the cognitive engineering tradition, these assumed benefits are regarded as hypotheses that need to be tested. An important element of a system user evaluation is to determine whether the hypothesized benefits are realized. Evaluation may also uncover unsupported aspects of performance or unanticipated side-effects of introducing the new technology that need to be addressed. We present a work-centered approach to user evaluation intended to meet these objectives, focusing specifically on design of tailored user-feedback questionnaires ( work-centered questionnaires) that are intended to be diagnostic of how specific system elements do, or do not, support work. We summarize two recent evaluation studies we have conducted that illustrate our approach and the diagnostic power of work-centered questionnaires. We discuss how the goals and approach of a work-centered evaluation differ from more traditional approaches to usability evaluation that emphasize the use of standardized questionnaires and broad assessments of usability.

Resilience Engineering for Sociotechnical Safety Management

Modern societies call for a reconsideration of risk and safety, in light of the increasing complexity of human-made systems. Technological artefacts, and the respective role of humans, as well as the organizational contexts in which they operate, dramatically changed in the last decades with an even more severe transformation expected in the future. Rooted in human factors, ergonomics, cognitive engineering, systems thinking and complexity theory, the discipline of resilience engineering proposes innovative approaches for safety challenges imposed by the dynamic, uncertain, and intertwined nature of modern sociotechnical systems. Resilience engineering aims to provide support means for ensuring that systems can sustain required operations under both expected and unexpected conditions. This chapter aims to provide a summary of the scientific field of resilience engineering, as well as a description of two methods common in the field, the resilience analysis grid and the functional resonance analysis method. Following two examples, the chapter proposes a multidisciplinary research agenda for the field.

Mobiles Plug-In Labor

Das mobile Plug-In Labor demonstriert Technologien und methodische Ansätze aus dem Advanced Systems Engineering in einer mobilen Umgebung. Hiermit werden aktuelle Herausforderungen in Engineering und Produktion adressiert und ein optimiertes, digital durchgängiges, interdisziplinäres und agiles Entwickeln von komplexen Systems of Systems aufgezeigt. Das Labor stellt eine eigenständige Forschungsumgebung auf Basis des am Fraunhofer IAO entstehenden Cognitive Engineering and Production Labors dar.**

Slow Education and Cognitive Agility

Governance of cyberpower from a military perspective are focused on the efforts to control and influence events occurring in cyberspace. For the Norwegian Defence, this means educating cyber engineers, responsible for governing cyberpower effects, beyond technical skills and competencies. To match the complexity of modern warfighting necessitates adaptive high-order thinking skills. Building on earlier cognitive engineering and human factors research in cyber defence this article suggests how Slow Education has the potential to improve cognitive performance among cyber cadets. Slow techniques were applied to 37 cyber cadets during a three-year bachelor programme at the Norwegian Defence Cyber Academy. The quantitative data for this study was gathered during a two-week Cyber Defence Exercise. Combining and applying a novel pedagogic method with psychological techniques suggests reflective pondering, self-regulation and metacognition as being associated with cognitive agility. This study helps develop and make metrics available that are suitable to evaluate human performance in cyber defence.