Human Factors in Requirements Engineering

Work in the field of human error has typically focused on operators of safety-critical equipment, such as nuclear power plant controllers, and of the design of the human-machine interfaces in such settings. Limited consideration has been given to wider system issues. Similarly, researchers and practitioners in the field of Dependable Systems are concerned with the design of computer-based systems which are intended to be operated in situations where the consequences of failure are potentially catastrophic. For example, the failure of a safety-critical system may cause great harm to people, property, or the environment. The work reported on in this paper is motivated by the need to ‘push back’ these concerns with the operation and design of dependable systems to the process by which they are developed.