Ergonomics of Automation
Channel: Linux.conf.au 2016 -- Geelong, Australia
Date: 2016-02-06

Jamie Wilkinson
https://linux.conf.au/schedule/30333/view_talk
In other fields, safety science has had a remarkable impact on systems reliability -- aviation, medicine, engineering; all of these fields understand the importance of designing human-machine interfaces to reduce error.
Many of the lessons from several decades old safety science apply well to computer operations as well. As systems grow we find the overheads of maintenance grow as well, straining our automation to the point of failure or at least requiring humans to supervise that automation, which increases to the point of being a greater cost than the original work!
In this talk I'll present some findings from the 1990s and discuss their applicability to systems administration and site reliability.