Identifying design requirements for new technologies is vitally important for successful uptake, yet few structured approaches exist to guide the process. Given increasing concerns regarding gig economy worker road safety, this study involved the use of Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA), alongside a participatory design process, to identify requirements for a novel, app-based incident reporting tool for gig economy workers. Study 1 involved a stakeholder workshop to refine a Work Domain Analysis model and define stakeholder requirements for the tool. Study 2 involved focus groups to identify barriers and facilitators to using the tool and a survey to inform the development of a Contextual Activity Template, in addition to identifying further barriers and facilitators. Design requirements for the tool were identified through synthesising the CWA outputs and themes identified from stakeholder and end user input.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) are an emerging technology that can read the brain signals of users, derive behavioral intentions, and manifest them in the control of electronic technologies. While there are potentially great benefits of this technology, there may also be risks associated with their use. However, it is not clear if these risks are being considered in the early BCI literature. This systematic review aimed to identify the scope and types of BCI risks discussed in the literature and the methods used to identify these risks. Following the PRISMA protocol, 1184 articles were initially identified with the final selection of 58 published articles following systematic exclusion. Analysis of the included articles derived 20 different risks, which were categorized into seven risk themes spanning physical health risks through to legal and societal concerns. Only one study in the review used a method of risk assessment, with most articles identifying risks through discussion and opinion pieces. The findings highlight a lack of an empirical and comprehensive understanding of the risks that BCI technology could pose. It is concluded that further work is necessary to proactively identify BCI risks using formal risk assessment methods to inform early users and to direct risk control measures for BCI developers and regulators.

Artificial General intelligence (AGI) offers enormous benefits for humanity, yet it also poses great risk. The aim of this systematic review was to summarise the peer reviewed literature on the risks associated with AGI. The review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Sixteen articles were deemed eligible for inclusion. Article types included in the review were classified as philosophical discussions, applications of modelling techniques, and assessment of current frameworks and processes in relation to AGI. The review identified a range of risks associated with AGI, including AGI removing itself from the control of human owners/managers, being given or developing unsafe goals, development of unsafe AGI, AGIs with poor ethics, morals and values; inadequate management of AGI, and existential risks. Several limitations of the AGI literature base were also identified, including a limited number of peer reviewed articles and modelling techniques focused on AGI risk, a lack of specific risk research in which domains that AGI may be implemented, a lack of specific definitions of the AGI functionality, and a lack of standardised AGI terminology. Recommendations to address the identified issues with AGI risk research are required to guide AGI design, implementation, and management.

"Commentary: controlling the demon: autonomous agents and the urgent need for controls." Human–Computer Interaction, 37(3), pp. 246–247

This article presents a prototypical model of how decision making can proceed within an environment, independent of situation or actor. Based upon Rasmussen's decision-ladder, an approach for capturing formative descriptions of existing decision-making processes is presented. The example of land-based combat identification is used to demonstrate this approach. Two new representations are introduced to aid domain understanding and support the design of decision support tools. The first maps the links between information elements, system states, and options. The second clusters elements in the decision-making process in terms of their location in the world. The approach presented is not intended to replace existing decision-making analysis techniques, rather, based on similar data collection procedures, its aim is to compliment them with a more formative integrant. By considering decision making independently from actor and context, a flexible approach is presented that is applicable complex sociotechnical systems.

Abstract Digitized mission support systems are currently being introduced in the military arena. The projected benefits include quicker, better informed, more efficient decision making by the teams using them; however, these claims are often made without appropriate scientific testing. A live operational field trial of a land warfare digital mission support system was observed, and an integrated framework of Human Factors methods was used to evaluate performance with the mission support system. The findings indicated that, as a corollary of various flaws associated with the digital system, decision making was found to be more difficult, more drawn out, and more susceptible to error. Rather than augment the decision-making process, in some cases these flaws were seen to create further decision-making requirements for users. In closing, the implications of this study and the wider naturalistic decision making literature for the design of digitized mission support systems are discussed. This research from the Human Factors Integration Defence Technology Centre was part-funded by the Human Sciences Domain of the UK Ministry of Defence Scientific Research Program. The work described was undertaken while all authors worked in the Ergonomics Research Group at Brunel University. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier, shorter version of this article for the NDM 09 conference. Notes

Interface problems have been cited as critical factor in the suboptimal performance of a large-scale digital command and control system. A live field study involving fully functioning Brigade and Battlegroup headquarters was observed. More than 3,000 communications events were extracted and analyzed in terms of their quantity, direction, and content. The effect of the interface problem was pronounced. Voice mediated communications (conducted by radio and avoiding the interface entirely) were superior at converting “data” into “information.” In cases where the interface was relied upon, users seized on a highly simplistic comms. facility and put it to use in ways that were not anticipated. The findings added significant value in terms of the phased, real-world delivery of this system. Very little human factors analysis had been performed previously. The current analysis, therefore, was able to provide a considerable amount of insight and justification for further design iterations. The take-away message: Neither networked technology nor the large quantities of raw data carried by it are sufficient to guarantee successful naturalistic decision making.