ERGONOMICS IN INTENSIVE-CARE - APPLYING HUMAN-FACTORS DATA TO THE DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF PATIENT MONITORING SYSTEMS

A program of work was initiated to design a data input and display interface for use in a computer based patient monitoring system. One such device had already been developed at the hospital as a first step in the process of replacing the chart method. This first device was found to be unacceptable in many human factors aspects. A new interface device was designed that was consistent with human factors recommendations. Experiments were conducted in which the two interface devices were compared for performance and preference. It was a delicate task to find that allocation of function that relieved the clinician of tedious and repetitive work and which maximized his interpretive functions. This was done by means of discussions with clinicians, by asking for their expert opinions of drawings. This discussion and interaction was maintained at all stages of the project to ensure the high acceptability of a sound design.