USER-CENTERED DESIGN CAN PRODUCE SAFER AND MORE COST-EFFECTIVE BUILDINGS BY SUPPORTING THE ADOPTIVE RESPONSES OF EMERGENCY TEAMS AND OCCUPANTS

摘要

In this paper, systems-centered and user-centered design approaches are described and some examples of how a user-centered design approach can solve important fire safety problems are provided. While the systems-centered approach is a significant advance beyond the fragmented approach to design typified by prescriptive codes, the approach treats people in the same way as causally-linked physical systems components. When human behavior is simply treated as responses to causal stimuli, the designer can easily miss opportunities to help people adapt to the uncertainties of emergency scenarios. As a supplement to systems-centered design, the paper advocates a user-center design approach that focuses on finding ways that the system can support the goals of its users— building occupants and the building managers and emergency responders who manage the incident. Cognitive task analysis is a tool that user-centered designers can employ to support people in their attempts to achieve a level of situation awareness that enables them to make good decisions during emergencies. As an example, the paper discusses the. needs of people to understand whether they should leave an occupied space, and, if so, by what means of egress. The value of user-centered design as a supplement to the systems-centered design is particularly evident when applied to performance-based engineering and multi-hazard response planning.