Professorial Lecture | Being Human in the Age of Technology by Professor Judy Bowen

This talk traces a research journey motivated by seemingly simple questions: How do things work? Why do they work? Why don’t they work? How can we make them better? Crucially, how can we be confident that the systems we rely on every day are not only usable, but also behave as expected. When these systems are safety-critical the stakes are even higher, if things go wrong the results may be catastrophic rather than merely inconvenient. While rigorous formal methods and mathematical models of software can help provide assurance for safety critical systems, they aren’t typically used to consider user interactions and interface design. This talk will describe how understanding human behaviour, capabilities, and limitations provides an essential foundation for the design of interactive systems, particularly in contexts where failure can have serious consequences. Also, how integrating this understanding into formal software development approaches can ensure we design systems that work for real people in real contexts of use. Through examples drawn from medical devices and hazardous outdoor work environments it illustrates how formal software development techniques are most effective when grounded in realistic models of human interaction. The talk will conclude by returning to the growing area of health technology and the ever-changing nature of technology and its uses, reflecting on how insights gained across diverse domains can inform the next generation of interactive, safety critical systems. Throughout, the emphasis is on bridging disciplines, connecting people, models, and technology, to build systems we can justifiably trust. #ForThePeople #KoTeTangata #UniversityOfWaikato #Research #HumanComputerInteraction #UXDesign #HumanFactors #SoftwareEngineering #SafetyCriticalSystems #HealthTech #STEMResearch