Study on the Relationship of Interface Usability Characteristics with Operators´ Emotional States in Industrial Context

Interaction between humans and machines is one of the major issues concerned by the technological society. The software interface becomes especially important as nowadays we interact with machines through it. In interface design emotions should be concerned because operators´ behaviors are substantially influenced by emotions. Ecological Interface Design (EID) is recognized as a promising framework for designing interfaces for complex human-machine systems. However, no attention has been paid on the influence of ecologically designed interface on operators´ emotional states. This paper is aiming to find answer for two questions: first, whether the acclaimed Ecological Interface has advantages in improving operators´ emotional aspect, second, how the emotions of operators are related with interface usability factors. Traditional interface and ecological interface were compared, by using Semantic Differential method and user interview, of the influence on emotional states, also, usability factors were studied and related to the operators´ emotions.