How is a Cognitive Systems Engineering perspective different from traditional UX/UI?
Summary
The article explains Cognitive Systems Engineering (CSE) as a multidisciplinary approach to designing safety-critical human–machine systems, distinguishing it from traditional UX/UI. It argues that UX/UI focuses on usability, while CSE aims to support teams in incident situations by providing shared situational awareness—answering what’s happening, what’s been tried, what’s next, and where understanding is uncertain. The cockpit analogy illustrates how CSE accounts for cognitive bandwidth limits and how automation and system behavior affect human decisions, emphasizing collaboration with the system rather than just operating it.