The Cognitive Consequences of Patterns of Information Flow

This paper examines the instruments and procedures found on state-of-the-art commercial airline flight decks. It argues that the flight deck as a whole should be viewed as a cognitive system and shows how design decisions may affect patterns of information flow which, in turn, produce cognitive consequences for the flight deck system. Some notable successes and persistent problems are described and a set of design principles that distinguish the successes from failures are presented. Finally, the application of the design principles to long-standing problems illustrates how these principles can lead to new instruments with desirable system properties.