Definitions

Although in the context of aviation, a "machine" primarily relates to aircraft flown by pilots and to work stations used by air traffic controllers, the concept of "machine" more broadly encompasses any device that people are interfacing with, be it a mobile phone, laptop computer, videodisc player, copy-machine, etc..

Description

Discussing man-machine-interface raises two basic questions:

• How do we communicate with the machine?
• How does the machine communicate with us?

This "two-way communication" is achieved through controls and displays.

Controls and displays must be seen from two different perspectives:

• Their physical aspect (ergonomics of usage),
• Their matching with the user's mental model (usage architecture and intuitiveness).

Discussion / Considerations

Communicating with a machine is just like communicating with/requesting something from a human being: