Reminding without disturbing: a soft visual cues attention support design for an air traffic control conflict detection visualisation

Attention guidance can mitigate problems with missed information in control room environments. However, it might distract attention from things considered more important by the operator. The concept Soft Visual Cues has been proposed to address this. The cues shall be a reminder when looked at during routine visual scanning, without unintentionally attracting attention. In this study, Air Traffic Controllers tested and assessed a Soft Visual Cues design based on the rotation of a symbol in an aircraft conflict visualisation tool through a series of real-time human-in-the-loop simulations. Soft Visual Cue aspects, such as perceived softness and risk for unintended attention caused by the rotation, were evaluated. Feedback from the controllers, supported by eye gaze data, showed that the rotation did not attract unwanted attention. Overall, the results from the validation show that the proposed design was considered to fulfil its purpose in an operationally relevant environment, that the concept should be possible to use in similar settings, and that the rotated symbol was generally considered a good Soft Visual Cue by the participants. Further, the results indicate the importance of tailoring the design to fit the targeted visual environment and domain specific needs to find the right level of softness.