Human-Centered Software Engineering for Safety-Critical Applications

Abstract

How do you design systems where the consequences of clicking on the wrong list item or misinterpreting a display could spell disaster? This presentation will explore issues in human-centered software engineering applied to safety-critical software-based systems. Safety-critical interaction design concerns the design of the interaction between humans and systems wherever safe operation and efficient, reliable use are critical because human life, health, or valuable property are immediately and directly affected. Safety-critical applications include such areas as medical informatics, industrial automation, military command and control, power systems management, and automotive applications. Model- driven approaches for addressing safety-critical design issues will be introduced and a novel application to the design of an automotive infotainment system will be presented.

Bio:

Larry Constantine, IDSA, is a Professor at the University of Madeira and Institute Fellow at the Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute where he teaches in the dual-degree MHCI program that he helped organize with Carnegie-Mellon University. A pioneer of modern software engineering theory and practice, he is an award-winning interaction designer specializing in enhancing user performance in safety-critical applications as well as an award-winning author with 17 books and more than 175 papers published. He is the recipient of the 2009 Stevens Award for his contributions to design and design methods and a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery.