ABSTRACT
Despite significant advances in maritime technology, many modern ship bridges remain misaligned with the cognitive, physical, and operational needs of their users. This chapter examines the systemic Human Factors (HF) shortcomings that persist in ship bridge design and the maritime industry’s limited ability to learn effectively from accidents. Drawing on a series of marine accidents as case studies, we demonstrate how poor interface design, alarm mismanagement, and ergonomic flaws contribute to operator error and reduced situational awareness. We review the extensive body of standards, design processes, emerging tools, and design systems that already exist to support safer, more intuitive maritime systems. Furthermore, we argue that safety risks in the marine industry do not arise from a lack of available HF knowledge but from its inconsistent application. Contributing factors include a weak strategic emphasis on HF in shipbuilding, low organisational design maturity, and accident investigation practices that prioritise individual blame over systemic analysis. To illustrate that human-centred design is both feasible and practical, we present the Unified Bridge concept as an example of a holistic HF-driven approach that has demonstrably improved usability and operational safety. We conclude by calling for a systemic shift in the maritime industry: HF and human-centred design (HCD) should be considered early in the design process, usability should be treated as a core safety requirement, and accident investigations should focus on learning rather than blame. Strengthening HF competence, HCD capability, and analytical methods, such as task analysis, workload assessment, alarm engineering, and scenario-based verification (e.g., CRIOP), is essential for achieving this transition, especially with new technologies such as autonomy, AI, and remote operations.
