Designing to aid situation awareness during active ship bridge alarms - Identifying and fulfilling information requirements of bridge alarms in target rich environments

Abstract

A large part of seaborne accidents can be directly attributed to a lack of situation awareness (SA). Upholding sufficient (SA) by sufficiently perceiving information, comprehending its meaning and projecting its future status is crucial for decision making in these situations. Designing for SA in complex environments requires a sufficient understanding of the requirements posed by the context. Using a situation awareness oriented design process, the thesis first identified SA requirements in target rich environments which were used, in combination with SA design principles, to propose a prototype of an integrated alert system directly on an on-bridge radar where alerts could be better contextualized and handled by officers. Subject matter experts were involved, both when defining requirements as well as during evaluation of the prototype. Results showed that although SA was generally supported by the concept, there was an overarching preference of separating non-navigational alerts from the radar. Recommendations were also presented, as resulting the evaluation and the process as a whole. Limitations, future work, and ethical considerations of such a concept are further discussed.