How great design can alleviate workplace stress

Workplace stress is something most of us will experience at some point. But there are some fields where the stakes are that much higher. The decisions made in a pinch by airline pilots, doctors, and others can literally be life or death.


Switching from a well established and sometimes dull routine to immediate focus, clarity and understanding requires years of training and experience - and nowhere is that more true than in nuclear power. The vast majority of the time it's completely safe, but it's fair to say complacency and human decision making under stress has caused its fair share of disasters over the years.


The art of keeping human clarity on point and enabling us to make decisions under stress with the help of technology (rather than it making the situation worse) is called Human-Centered Design. It's a principle which points us in the right direction and assists us when we need to make judgement calls - and is surprisingly uncommon in many industries. Joining us today is Dr. Claire Blackett, Principal Nuclear Research Scientist from the Institute for Energy Technologies and an expert in Human-Centered Design. We'll be discussing what other organizations can learn about alleviating stress and enabling good decision making through positive design principles - and more.


This is Technology Now, a weekly show from Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Every week we look at a story that's been making headlines, take a look at the technology behind it, and explain why it matters to organisations and what we can learn from it.


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About the expert, Dr. Claire Blackett, Principal Nuclear Research Scientist from the Institute for Energy Technologies: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claireblackett/?originalSubdomain=no