Development of Human Factors Guidelines for ATIS and CVO Identify Strengths and Weaknesses of Alternative Information Display Formats

This report is one of a series produced as part of a contract designed to develop precise, detailed, human factors design guidelines for Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) and Commercial Vehicle Operations (CVO). The goals of the work covered in this report were to: (1) identify information format alternatives for ATIS devices for both private drivers and CVO applications, and (2) identify research issues that must be addressed in order to develop effective information format guidelines. To achieve these goals, and to make the greatest progress possible toward the ultimate project goal of guideline development, the project developed the strategy of turning the current state of knowledge into tools applicable to any ATIS design. Four primary design-decision tools were developed. These tools are intended to help either professional or nonprofessional human factors designers make appropriate tradeoff decisions in designing effective ATIS displays. The four tools are: (1) Sensory Modality Allocation, (2) Trip Status Allocation, (3) Display Format Allocation, and (4) Display Location.