ABSTRACT
Considering technical systems from an ergonomic point of view, human-machine interfaces have to be designed according to the user’s capabilities, taking into account perception as well as cognition of the user interface. Perceptual ergonomics includes classic design factors that support human information processing during stimulus uptake, short-term sensory storage and the following perception. In doing so, sensory impressions are identified and by means of cortical signal processing assigned to concepts of the long-term memory that reflect former experiences and memories. A design following the principles of perceptual ergonomics provides a basis for the cognition where thinking and decision processes with access to working memory and long-term memory occur. To support human information processing from a cognitive ergonomic point of view, it is necessary to consider the user’s (internal) mental model and a task-appropriate external knowledge representation. A central design principle of cognitive ergonomics is the compatibility of a technical system with the mental model of the user. To minimize transformation efforts it is useful to provide information in a form that complies as well as possible with the user’s mental model being necessary to cope with the task.
