On 4/6/16 9:40 PM, Casey Ransberger wrote:
I'm working on a user interface which will most of the time be
interacted with by people who are in a state of distress. It's vital
that the UI be as calming as possible. I've gotten to the part where I
have to choose colors to put on the screen, and I've done a web
search, but most of the links are about interior decorating and don't
exactly smack of science.
a) not sure that what works for decorating will necessarily work for UI
b) I'd like to read any good research out there
You didn't define what kind of "state of distress," or operating
conditions, but the military spends a lot of time studying how to design
interfaces for people who are working under extreme stress (piloting
fast-moving machinery, making decisions while getting shot at, that kind
of things). And a lot of the work extends into things like civil
aviation (pilots, air traffic controllers), and first responders (e.g.,
interfaces for folks who are "tired, dirty, and hungry" working under
dangerous conditions, while wearing cumbersome clothing - think fighting
wildfires).
For what it's worth... The folks at the Air Force Research Laboratory
(AFRL) used to do LOTS of work on GUI design for things like heads-up
displays for fighter pilots, and situation awareness for battle
management (e.g., how to display a complex, rapidly changing,
airspace). They got down to the nitty gritty of things like (virtual)
button size, shape, color - and lab testing of interactions with
interfaces. The Army does similar work.
It's been at least 15 years since I had any contact with that kind of
work - I don't know if they're still doing it, and if they are, which
groups are involved - but you might try:
- some googling of: AFRL "human factors"
- nosing around http://www.wpafb.af.mil/ - maybe starting here:
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/afrl/711HPW/ - then make some calls (maybe start
with http://www.wpafb.af.mil/t2/ - the technology transfer folks)
- searching DTIC (http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/) - you'll find lots of old
research reports - some, some not so good, much of it old (but that
doesn't make it less valid) - for example, a simple search of DTIC,
using the keywords "gui human factors color stress" came up with these
3360 reports, starting with
Analysis of Human Factors Data for Electronic Flight Display Systems
http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/884770.pdf
HUMAN FACTORS ENGINEERING DESIGN STANDARD FOR VEHICLE FIGHTING
COMPARTMENTS http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/691331.pdf
Human Factors Literature Relevant to Civil Aviation: A Guide for
Management and Design Engineers
http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/722161.pdf
Going on to list reports covering a broad range fields and applications
in air, land, sea, and space.
You might then search some of the titles and authors in citeseer - that
might lead you to folks currently working in the field who might be
worth talking to.
At least, that's where I'd start. Depending on your application, you
might also make some calls to the folks at DHS S&T (DHS's R&D arm) -
they fund work on systems for first responders.
Miles Fidelman
--
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is. .... Yogi Berra
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