European conference on cognitive ergonomics

Even the US department of Homeland Security is running its own cognitive ergonomic studies. Recently they investigated if US citizens were even aware of the five levels of threat condition warning system. The five levels are: (low: green; guarded: blue; elevated: yellow; high: orange; severe: red). Once the study was concluded it went one step further to see how the wording, warning statements and color combinations effected the individuals. As you can see this plays a large role when dealing in a emergency situation. The proper use of colors and words could avert major loss of life.

To get a better understanding of cognitive ergonomics it is best to look at some of the studies that have been undertaken by scientists in the field. One study went on to research how different colors of borders on safety warning signs went on to influence user actions. Another study investigated which one of the two major keyboard types ( with and without keypad ) gave greater performance when filling out forms. These are the types of studies that are prevalent in cognitive ergonomics. While they may seem small at first the impact of the studies is quite great. How lives are saved with the right colored sign?

Cognitive Ergonomics is necessary to keep our species moving forward with complex technology. When we design complex machines and systems that our lives depend on it becomes imperative that they are used properly and efficiently. Quite often cognitive ergonomics are used when creating user interfaces for complex operating systems and machinery. Imagine a industrial plant that is mostly automated. The user interface has to be designed in such a way that human error is minimized and an order of operations that is logical. If there is poor interface one wrong human move can cost employee lives.

Traditionally Ergonomics is known as “fitting systems to humans” which translates out to using tools, equipment, tasks and environments to suit certain human cognitive abilities and take into account human limitations. To simply this we only have to look at an example such as designing a keyboard that maximizes our ability to type accurately and at speed or creating the ultimate race car that fits a driver. The goal of cognitive ergonomics is to limit human error when dealing with often complex machines and user interfaces.
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