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> I'm currently doing some preliminary research on the
concept of "points of
> failure", an approach that (I believe) originated in
engineering practice
> and has been used more recently in software
engineering (e.g., "formal
> methods"). In essence, an analysis of points of
failure is an approach
> that examines a product to determine how users can
fail when using the
> product, whether because of the design, the
operational context, or human
> error.
>
> This has obvious applications in creating
documentation, and that's why
> I'm interested in pursuing this.
>
> Any recommendations for reading material?
That's a really nice subject you've taken up. I
suggest you also include
"Poka Yoke" in your research. It is a Japanese
management concept that tries
to identify points of failure and avoid inadvertent
errors.
If you are interested, please write to me off-list and
I can send you the
PDF of an article on the subject, that I wrote
recently.
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