Con”dence and Uncertainty in SA and Decision Making

Uncertainty is a part of life. This is no less true for those system operators for whom we seek to design system interfaces. Uncertainty is not simply an inconvenience that can be wished or designed away, but is a signi”cant factor in shaping human decision making and action. As such, it is very important that system designs support the operator’s need to understand the degree and nature of the uncertainties in the situation. Con”dence level in information, a correlate of uncertainty, is an important component of situation awareness (SA) in most domains. Because of its unique nature, we will describe different types and sources of uncertainty, the role that uncertainty plays in SA, and ways in which people actively manage uncertainty in complex domains. We will then describe design recommendations for the display of information reliability or certainty in order to support SA and decision making.