DAVID IVERSON

Member since: Sep 24, 2010, NASA Ames Code TI

On Organization of Information: Approach and Early Work

Shared by DAVID IVERSON, updated on Mar 28, 2016

Summary

Author(s) :
Asaf Degani, Charles Jorgensen, David Iverson, Michael Shafto, Leonard Olson
Abstract

In this report we describe an approach for organizing information for presentation and display.
The approach stems from the observation that there is a stepwise progression in the way signals
(from the environment and the system under consideration) are extracted and transformed into
data, and then analyzed and abstracted to form representations (e.g., indications and icons) on
the user interface. In physical environments such as aerospace and process control, many system
components and their corresponding data and information are interrelated (e.g., an increase in
a chamber’s temperature results in an increase in its pressure). These interrelationships, when
presented clearly, allow users to understand linkages among system components and how they
may affect one another. Organization of these interrelationships by means of an orderly structure
provides for the so-called “big picture” that pilots, astronauts, and operators strive for.
This report begins with an analysis of an aviation incident involving a modern airliner, where the
flight crew had difficulties understanding the physical interrelationships that existed among several
engine and fuel system indications provided on the cockpit display. Analysis of the incident
highlights some of the limitations in the design of information systems with respect to organization
of information and user understanding of automation processes. We then analyze the map
of the London Underground to understand successful examples of simplification and abstraction,
integration of information, and nonlinear organization of the display to help viewers better
understand the system as a whole. The next section describes the application of these concepts
to the design of a graphical display for a statistical analysis of pilot-automation interaction. The
last section describes the design of an experimental engine display for a research helicopter that
integrates information from engine parameters and organizes them in the context of other subsystems.
In Appendix A we provide the technical background for a statistical technique (canonical
correlation analysis) used to analyze deviations from expected patterns in pilot-automation
interaction. In Appendix B we detail a new approach for transformation of signals, and creation
of an alphabet to represent sensor signals in order to foster detection of anomalies in data streams.
We conclude with several inferences about information organization and offer some insights for
those interested in pursuingthe challenge of developing a theory for information integration
and organization.

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