ABSTRACT
Workload represents the cost of accomplishing task requirements for the human element of systems (Hart and Wickens, 1990; cited in Gregoriades and Sutcliffe, 2007) and is a critical issue within Human Factors. For the purposes of this book, we will focus on the concept of mental workload, although there is a range of methods that Human Factors researchers also use to measure levels of physical workload (see Stanton et al., 2004). Inappropriate mental workload levels (both too high and too low), caused by factors such as poor system design, inappropriate procedures, and adverse environmental conditions, have a range of consequences, including fatigue, errors, monotony, mental saturation, reduced vigilance, and stress (Spath, Braun, and Hagenmeyer, 2007).
