Perception-action icons: an interface design strategy for intermediate domains

OBJECTIVE: A prototype interface was developed to support decision making during tactical operations; a laboratory experiment was conducted to evaluate the capability of this interface to support a critical activity (i.e., obtaining the status of friendly combat resources). BACKGROUND: Effective interface design strategies have been developed for domains that have primarily law-driven (e.g., process control) or intent-driven (e.g., information retrieval) constraints. However, design strategies for intermediate domains in which both types of constraints are equally critical, such as military command and control, have not been explored as extensively. The principles of direct perception, direct manipulation, and perception-action loops were used to develop a hybrid interface design strategy ("perception-action icons") that was incorporated into the prototype interface. METHODS: A qualitative tactical simulation and an alternative interface (an experimental version of an existing U.S. Army interface) were developed. Participants used both interfaces to provide estimates of friendly combat resources for three different categories of information at three different echelon levels. RESULTS: The results were unequivocal, indicating that the interface with perception-action icons produced significantly better performance. CONCLUSION: The perception-action icon design strategy was very effective in this experimental context. The potential for this design strategy to be useful for other intermediate domains is explored. APPLICATION: Actual or potential applications of this research include both specific interface design strategies for military command and control and general interface design principles for intermediate work domains.