User and Task Models Impact on an Adaptive User Interface for the Startup of a Power Plant

Abstract

A number of different approaches to build adaptive user interfaces for web-based systems and office applications have been reported in the literature. However, for more demanding domains such as the operation of a power plant, little research has been conducted. To operate a power plant, the operator has to visualize information, analyze normal and failure situations, process changing data, and make decisions in a reduced time span. Since the all these activities have to be done by the operator through the user interface, the design of an adaptive user interface represents a challenge due to the decisiveness of the tasks for operating the plant. To deal with the above situation, we propose an adaptive user interface model that takes into account contextual information (process variables), and tasks to be performed at the current state process through the use of a task model, the user-system interaction history, and the preferences and experience of users are also considered through the integration of a user model. A partial prototype including both models: operator model and task model for an adaptive user interface applied to the electrical domain was evaluated. Evaluation was achieved with non-operators using a proprietary system to assist the operator in the startup of a power plant. This paper presents the partial evaluation of the task model and user model of the adaptive user interface. The initial results show that the combination of both models in the adaptive user interface have a positive impact particularly in gas consumptions reductions in a set of representative tasks of the startup of the power plant compared to the user interface lacking a user and task model.