Towards a Model of Automation Adoption

This study examines the impact of prior experience on the adoption of automation in a supervisory control task. Automation is typically implemented as a means of reducing a person’s effort or involvement in a task. When automation is first introduced in a new product, the experience on the yet-to-be automated task is variable. Some users have experience with the task prior to the automation while others have little to no prior experience. Automation adoption between levels of experience was investigated in a mixed design study. One group was trained to use a manual version of a task before learning of an automated version. A second group was only trained to use the automated version of the task. The results of this study indicate that both training and experience are needed before users can make robust predictions about future automation adoption.