Using information in task models to support design of interactive safety-critical applications

The use of models has entered into current practice when developing various types of software product. However, there is a lack of methods able to use the information contained in relevant models concerning human-computer interaction for supporting the design and development of user interfaces. In this paper, we propose a method for using information contained in formally represented task models in order to support the design of interactive applications, with particular attention to those applications where both usability and safety are the main concern. Examples taken from our experience in a case study from the domain of Air Traffic Control are introduced and further discussed to explain how the method can be applied.