The design of design teams in high-technology industries

Every design enterprise in high-technology involves a large multi-disciplinary team. In the context of man-machine interaction there are two related issues concerning the design system. Firstly, the team must be divided into sub-teams which can complete separate tasks within the context of the total system concept. Secondly, there are human factors design issues which often run across the work of the sub-teams. The division of a design effort into separate tasks is a considerable art but there are some general principles such as the minimisation of communication across interfaces and the standardisation of procedures for consolidating, communicating and recording design decisions. A human factors service must be available on a wide range of issues, including coding and storage of information concerning progress to date, the man-machine interfaces, work space and working environment design, and the design of instruction manuals. The ergonomist cannot confine his solutions within design. There are complementary issues of training which are usually organisationally separated. The ergonomist must cooperate with personnel specialists responsible for staffing levels and training. In recent years useful bridges have developed in the form of common interests in task analysis and simulation.