ABSTRACT
The total traffic system can be seen as a multiperson-multimachine system running under a great variety of environmental and other situational characteristics. The system is organized by implicit and explicit rules, where the key system elements, humans (drivers) and machines (vehicles) interact. Several interactions can be identified and are performed through the driver-vehicle interface and the driver-environment interface. The design of the driver-vehicle interaction is not a question of specification of displays and controls. The design must be related to the goal of the total man-machine system, i.e. to the context in which the system will operate and to the content of the information flow between user and technical system. This ideal top-down analysis path is presented in the PROMETHEUS MMI Checklist (Franzén et al., 1991). The basic elements of the approach cover the problem and the user, the tasks and subtasks, the interaction and the interface. Aggregated questions like: ‘why a technical system?’; ‘a system for whom?’; ‘which user tasks are supported?’; ‘what should be the content of the interaction?’; ‘when will the system be activated?’; ‘how should the system functions be realized technically?’; and ‘where should the device be located?’ exemplify the top-down approach.
