Taking Flight: Exploring the Intersection of Design, Aviation, and Engineering Psychology with John Flach | Ep 56
Dec 4, 2023
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Join John Flach, design and aviation expert, as he takes us on a thrilling journey through the intersection of design, aviation, and engineering psychology. From the tragic story of John Denver to the role of situational awareness in human-centered design, we explore control systems, cybernetics, and the fascinating relationship between optic flow and flight control. Discover the innovative approach of the Wright brothers and delve into neuroscience with John Boyd's doodle loop. This captivating conversation ends with reflections on the power of synergy and problem-solving.
Human factors engineering focuses on designing interfaces to prevent accidents and improve user experience.
User-centered design aims to align interfaces with users' perception and make relevant information stand out for an intuitive experience.
Understanding the information present in a situation and the consequences of actions leads to accurate situational awareness and effective decision-making.
Deep dives
Human Factors and Design: Shifting the Blame
Human factors engineering, also known as human-centered design, aims to understand the constraints of a problem or domain and design interfaces that make information useful, salient, and easy to pick up. It emphasizes that many perceived human errors are actually design errors, as people are expected to make certain mistakes in specific situations. One example is pilots accidentally retracting landing gear instead of lowering flaps due to identical levers. Instead of blaming the pilots, human factors engineers understand that the design of the interface is crucial, and they implement changes such as shape coding to differentiate controls. This reorientation from a human problem to a design problem helps prevent accidents and improve user experience.
Human-Centered Design and Affordances
Human-centered design, often centered around asking people what they want, can be expanded to a more inclusive approach called user-centered design. This approach focuses on understanding the constraints of the problem domain and making information that is useful, salient, and easy to comprehend. It prioritizes making important information stand out and designing interfaces that align with users' abilities. In this perspective, James Gibson's theory of affordances is relevant, as it suggests that perception is not based solely on physical attributes like size or mass, but rather on the relative relationship between objects and the action capabilities of the observer. User-centered design aims to create interfaces that align with users' perception and make the most relevant information stand out for a more effective and intuitive experience.
Situational Awareness and the Closed Loop
The traditional understanding of situational awareness often focuses on awareness itself, but it fails to explain the underlying dynamics of cognition. Situational awareness is important, but it is an incomplete explanation. It is vital to recognize that true situational awareness comes from understanding the information present in the situation and the consequences of one's actions. By closing the loop and including the external environment as an integral part of the system, we can better grasp the interactions and feedback between actions and the situation. By recognizing that situations provide specific information necessary for optimal decision-making, designers can create interfaces that present the relevant information, enabling users to develop accurate situational awareness and make effective choices.
The Use of Optic Flow in Control Modeling
The podcast episode discusses the use of optic flow in control modeling. The speaker mentions their early research where they tied properties of the optical flow field described by Gibson to interactive control. They focused on the invariance of optical flow fields as independent variables and used control modeling to examine people’s skill and identify the cues driving performance. The speaker explains concepts like constant bearing decreasing range (CBDR) and time to contact, showing how the mathematics of the flow field can be linked to control strategies. They highlight the potential application of this knowledge in designing automatic braking systems.
Lessons from the Wright Brothers and Langley
The podcast also touches upon the story of the Wright Brothers and Samuel Langley in the early days of aviation. It highlights how the Wright Brothers took a user-centered design approach and focused on the joint cognitive system involving the pilot as a critical component. They practiced and mastered control with gliders and kites before adding an engine to the plane, understanding that control was a skill that needed to be learned. Contrary to Langley, who focused on building large wings without practicing control and failed in his attempts at flight. The discussion emphasizes the importance of considering people, ideas, and things in a unified system and the need for a diverse portfolio of strategies and options to handle unexpected events.
Are you tuned in to the spellbinding world of design and aviation? Well, let's buckle up for an exhilarating journey as we navigate through the skies of human factors and engineering psychology with our esteemed guest, John Flach. Starting with the origins of engineering psychology, we'll take you through the intriguing story of John Denver, whose tragic end was prompted by design constraints in his experimental aircraft. We also turn the spotlight on human-centered and use-centered design and the integral role of situational awareness.
In the later part of our conversation, we shift gears to discuss control systems, cybernetics, and their massive impact on the scientific community. Our guest John will guide us through James Gibson's path-breaking work on affordances, which revolves around the concept of viewing the world in terms of action systems. Hold your breath as we unravel the intricate relationship between optic flow and control flight, and how environmental factors can potentially influence a pilot's perception of speed, leading to catastrophic consequences.
As we reach the runway, we will reflect on the role of technology in problem-solving, drawing inspiration from the Wright brothers and their innovative approach to aircraft design. Get ready to be fascinated as we explore the world of neuroscience and John Boyd's doodle loop. We close our discussion by pondering on Boyd's work, the power of synergy, and the paramount importance of channeling action towards a shared objective. So, fasten your seatbelts and get set for a riveting and enlightening conversation!
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