Nureg/Cr-6633 Bnl-Nureg-52563
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NUREG/CR-6633 BNL-NUREG-52563 Advanced Information Systems Design: Technical Basis and Human Factors Review Guidance Brookhaven National Laboratory U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Washington, DC 20555-0001 ON AVAILABILITY NOTICE Availability of Reference Materials Cited in NRC Publications NRC publications in the NUREG series, NRC regu <http://www.nrc.gov> lations, and Title 10, Energy, of the Code of Federal Regulations, may be purchased from one of the fol After January 1,2000, the public may electronically lowing sources: access NUREG-series publications and other NRC records in NRC's Agencywide Document Access 1. The Superintendent of Documents and Management System (ADAMS), through the U.S. Government Printing Office Public Electronic Reading Room (PERR), link PO. Box 37082 <http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html>. 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Neither the United results of such use, of any infonration, apparatus, product, or States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their em process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use by ployees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes such third party would not infringe privately owned rights. I I NUREG/CR-6633 BNL-NUREG-52563 Advanced Information Systems Design: Technical Basis and Human Factors Review Guidance Manuscript Completed: January 2000 Date Published: March 2000 Prepared by J. M. O'Hara, J. C. Higgins/BNL J. Kramer/NRC Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973 J. Kramer, NRC Project Manager Prepared for Division of Systems Analysis and Regulatory Effectiveness Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 NRC Job Code J6012 NUREG/CR-6633 has been reproduced from the best available copy. I I ABSTRACT Plant information systems provide operators with information supporting situation assessment, monitoring and detection of disturbances, response planning, and response implementation. The importance of the design of information systems for human performance and reliability has long been recognized. Recent advances in design go beyond the 'one sensor - one indicator' display systems of conventional plants. Computer-based systems provide a variety of ways to process and present data. These characteristics of design represent a trend toward making displays more immediately meaningful to personnel by mapping display representations to important aspects of plant processes and to underlying cognitive mechanisms, such as perceptual processes and mental models. The objective of this study was to develop guidance for human factors review of advanced information systems based on a technically valid methodology for developing guidance. To support this objective, we developed a characterization framework for describing key design characteristics of information systems. The characterization includes the following major components: information requirements, representation systems, interface management functions, and display devices. Representation systems were further hierarchically divided into display elements (basic building blocks of displays, such as axes, alphanumeric elements, and icons), display formats (such as mimic displays, configural displays, and novel graphics), display pages (a defined set of information that is intended to be displayed as a single unit), and display networks (the organization of display pages). Then, we examined research in the following areas: (1) generic cognitive tasks that an information system must support, (2) information requirements analysis, (3) information representation, and (4) information organization. This research was used to provide the technical basis on which guidelines for review of design were developed. These guidelines address both the design process and the implementation of advanced information systems. However, there were aspects of information systems for which the technical basis was insufficient to support the development of guidance. These were identified as issues to be addressed in future research. iii NUREG/CR-6633 CONTENTS Paiie A BSTRA CT ... ......... ................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES ............. ............................................................. ix LIST OF TABLES ..... .............................................................. xi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY....................................................... xiii PREFA CE .................................................................... xix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................... xxi ACRONYMS...................................................................... xi PART 1: Guidance Development and Technical Basis 1 INTRODU CTION ................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Background ................................................................. 1-1 1.2 Scope of the Research ......................................................... 1-3 1.3 Organization of the Report ..................................................... 1-4 2 O BJECTIV E ....................................................................... 2-I 3 METHODOLOGY .................................................................. 3-1 3.1 O verview ................................................................... 3 1 3.2 Characterization of the Information System ........................................ 3-2 3.3 Development of the Technical Basis .............................................. 3-2 3A Development of Guidelines and Documentation ..................................... 3-6 3.5 Identification of Issues ........................................................ 3-6 3.6 Peer Review ................................................................. 3-6 4 CHARACTERIZATION OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS .................................. 4-1 4.1 Information Requirements ...................................................... 4-1 4.2 Representation System ........................................................ 4-1 4.3 M anagement Functions ........................................................ 4-6 4.4 D isplay D evices ............................................................. 4-6 4.5 Relationship to Other Aspects of HSIs ............................................ 4-6 5 DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNICAL BASIS .............................................. 5-1 5.1 Existing NRC Guidance for Information Systems ................................... 5-1 5.2 Cognitive Tasks Supported by Information Systems ................................. 5-7 5.2.1 Situation Assessm ent .................................................. 5-7 5.2.2 M onitoring and Detection .............................................. 5-11 v NUREG/CR-6633 CONTENTS (Continued) Pane 5.2.3 Response Planning ................................................... 5-15 5.2.4 Response Implementation .............................................. 5-16 5.2.5 Implications for