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Journal article 1259 views 191 downloads

Unreliable numbers: error and harm induced by bad design can be reduced by better design

Harold Thimbleby Orcid Logo, Patrick Oladimeji, Paul Cairns

Journal of The Royal Society Interface, Volume: 12, Issue: 110, Start page: 20150685

Swansea University Author: Harold Thimbleby Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1098/rsif.2015.0685

Abstract

Number entry is a ubiquitous activity and is often performed in safety- and mission-critical procedures, such as healthcare, science, finance, aviation and in many other areas. We show that Monte Carlo methods can quickly and easily compare the reliability of different number entry systems. A surpri...

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Published in: Journal of The Royal Society Interface
ISSN: 1742-5662
Published: London Royal Society 2015
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa28817
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spelling 2023-02-02T16:00:16.6424843 v2 28817 2016-06-09 Unreliable numbers: error and harm induced by bad design can be reduced by better design c12beb0ab0e333a9a512589d411d17f3 0000-0003-2222-4243 Harold Thimbleby Harold Thimbleby true false 2016-06-09 FGSEN Number entry is a ubiquitous activity and is often performed in safety- and mission-critical procedures, such as healthcare, science, finance, aviation and in many other areas. We show that Monte Carlo methods can quickly and easily compare the reliability of different number entry systems. A surprising finding is that many common, widely used systems are defective, and induce unnecessary human error. We show that Monte Carlo methods enable designers to explore the implications of normal and unexpected operator behaviour, and to design systems to be more resilient to use error. We demonstrate novel designs with improved resilience, implying that the common problems identified and the errors they induce are avoidable. Journal Article Journal of The Royal Society Interface 12 110 20150685 Royal Society London 1742-5662 31 12 2015 2015-12-31 10.1098/rsif.2015.0685 http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/12/110/20150685#aHR0cDovL3JzaWYucm95YWxzb2NpZXR5cHVibGlzaGluZy5vcmcvY29udGVudC9yb3lpbnRlcmZhY2UvMTIvMTEwLzIwMTUwNjg1LmZ1bGwucGRmQEBAMA== COLLEGE NANME Science and Engineering - Faculty COLLEGE CODE FGSEN Swansea University 2023-02-02T16:00:16.6424843 2016-06-09T18:12:38.2310568 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science Harold Thimbleby 0000-0003-2222-4243 1 Patrick Oladimeji 2 Paul Cairns 3 0028817-19052017214707.pdf new-number-entry.pdf 2017-05-19T21:47:07.7730000 Output 2751358 application/pdf Accepted Manuscript true 2017-05-19T00:00:00.0000000 true eng
title Unreliable numbers: error and harm induced by bad design can be reduced by better design
spellingShingle Unreliable numbers: error and harm induced by bad design can be reduced by better design
Harold Thimbleby
title_short Unreliable numbers: error and harm induced by bad design can be reduced by better design
title_full Unreliable numbers: error and harm induced by bad design can be reduced by better design
title_fullStr Unreliable numbers: error and harm induced by bad design can be reduced by better design
title_full_unstemmed Unreliable numbers: error and harm induced by bad design can be reduced by better design
title_sort Unreliable numbers: error and harm induced by bad design can be reduced by better design
author_id_str_mv c12beb0ab0e333a9a512589d411d17f3
author_id_fullname_str_mv c12beb0ab0e333a9a512589d411d17f3_***_Harold Thimbleby
author Harold Thimbleby
author2 Harold Thimbleby
Patrick Oladimeji
Paul Cairns
format Journal article
container_title Journal of The Royal Society Interface
container_volume 12
container_issue 110
container_start_page 20150685
publishDate 2015
institution Swansea University
issn 1742-5662
doi_str_mv 10.1098/rsif.2015.0685
publisher Royal Society
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science
url http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/12/110/20150685#aHR0cDovL3JzaWYucm95YWxzb2NpZXR5cHVibGlzaGluZy5vcmcvY29udGVudC9yb3lpbnRlcmZhY2UvMTIvMTEwLzIwMTUwNjg1LmZ1bGwucGRmQEBAMA==
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Number entry is a ubiquitous activity and is often performed in safety- and mission-critical procedures, such as healthcare, science, finance, aviation and in many other areas. We show that Monte Carlo methods can quickly and easily compare the reliability of different number entry systems. A surprising finding is that many common, widely used systems are defective, and induce unnecessary human error. We show that Monte Carlo methods enable designers to explore the implications of normal and unexpected operator behaviour, and to design systems to be more resilient to use error. We demonstrate novel designs with improved resilience, implying that the common problems identified and the errors they induce are avoidable.
published_date 2015-12-31T03:35:10Z
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score 11.013619

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