Abstract
Number entry is ubiquitous: it is required in many fields including science, healthcare, education, government, mathematics and finance. People entering numbers are to be expected to make errors, but shockingly few systems make any effort to detect, block or otherwise manage errors. Worse, errors may be ignored but processed in arbitrary ways, with unintended results. A standard class of error (defined in the paper) is an ‘out by 10 error’, which is easily made by miskeying a decimal point or a zero. In safety-critical domains, such as drug delivery, out by 10 errors generally have adverse consequences. Here, we expose the extent of the problem of numeric errors in a very wide range of systems. An analysis of better error management is presented: under reasonable assumptions, we show that the probability of out by 10 errors can be halved by better user interface design. We provide a demonstration user interface to show that the approach is practical. To kill an error is as good a service as, and sometimes even better than, the establishing of a new truth or fact.(Charles Darwin 1879 [2008], p. 229)
Highlights
At first sight, typing numbers is such a mundane task that it seems not to merit a second glance
We show how better designs for number entry may be approached; we present a new, improved user interface for preventing many number entry errors, and we argue that the new approach can approximately halve the probability of an important class of adverse events arising from number entry error
We have shown that user errors are ignored or worse by many number entry systems in user interfaces from interactive devices to desk-top applications; in all domains, this causes confusion and problems, possibly leading to harm
Summary
At first sight, typing numbers is such a mundane task that it seems not to merit a second glance. When it comes to entering numbers, humans are prone to make errors, but—astonishingly—many systems make no effort to detect or manage possible errors, causing incorrect and unpredictable results. This paper exposes the extent of this problem in a wide range of systems. We show that the problem cannot be dismissed merely by blaming the user: we show that some system logs, which might otherwise be thought of as a formal record of user actions, cannot be relied on to assign blame. Systems should be designed to manage errors, as errors will always eventually occur regardless of user skill or training. We show how better designs for number entry may be approached; we present a new, improved user interface for preventing many number entry errors, and we argue that the new approach can approximately halve the probability of an important class of adverse events arising from number entry error
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