Human-machine interaction

Human–machine interaction (HMI) is the interaction between machines and the persons who operate them. An old-fashioned (historic) term is is Man-machine interaction (MMI).

Related terms

• An interactive system (in contrast with automated systems) is a system for which human control or human supervision is required for its operation.
• The part of the machine used to interact with the human operator is called Human-machine interface.
• In complex systems, the human-machine interface is typically computerized. The terms Human-computer interaction and Human-computer interface refer to these systems.
• A primary goal in the design and development of interactive systems is to maximize the user's productivity and safety and satisfaction.
• The set of procedures used to get this goal is called usability assurance.
• The goals of usability assurance are to maximize the system utility (usefulness) and to minimize the operational risks.
• The engineering of the human-machine interfaces is by considering ergonomics (Human Factors). The corresponding disciplines are Human Factors Engineering (HFE) and Usability Engineering (UE), which is part of Systems Engineering.
• The knowledge about human factors is gained through behavioral sciences such as linguistics, social sciences and cognitive psychology.
• Theories of human-machine interaction are based on communication theory, in which the the human operator is regarded as a sub-system, with special values of performance properties (response time, error rates, learning rate, memory capacity, retention rates, vigilance, etc.).
• Theories about evaluating success and failure of the interaction apply knowledge about use errors, risk assessment and resilience engineering.