Decision Support for Flexible Manufacturing Systems: The Evaluation of an Ecological Interface and Principles of Ecological Interface Design

The cognitive systems engineering (CSE)/ecological interface design (EID) approach was applied in developing decision support for the flexible manufacturing system (FMS) work domain. Four interfaces were designed via the factorial application/non-application of direct perception (DP) and direct manipulation (DM). The capability of these interfaces to support performance in a simulated FMS was evaluated using a variety of traditional and novel dependent variables. The ecological interface (with DP, DM and an intact perception-action loop) provided clearly superior decision support (32 favorable significant results) relative to the other three interfaces (a combined total of 28 favorable significant results). The novel dependent variables were very sensitive. The results are interpreted from three different perspectives: traditional EID, the quality of constraint matching between triadic system components and closed-loop, dynamical control systems. The rationale for an expanded theoretical framework which complements, but does not replace, the original principles of CSE/EID is discussed. The potential for both specific interface features and novel dependent variables to generalize to real-world FMS applications is addressed. The expanded theoretical framework is universally relevant for the development of decision making and problem solving support in all computer-mediated work domains.