The need for transparency and rationale in automated systems

As medical devices and information systems become increasingly complex, the issue of how to support users becomes more important. However, many current help systems are often ignored or found to be too complicated to use by clinicians. In this article, we suggest an approach that allows designers to think about user support and automating tasks in ways users find more acceptable. The issue we address in particular is the notion of transparency and to what extent it allows the end-user to understand and critique the advice given. We have found that one central problem with existing support systems is that often the end-user does not understand the differences between the automated parts and the parts that have to be done manually. By taking aspects of transparency and control into account when designing an automated tool it seems that some of the more refractory issues that help systems pose for professional users can be addressed.