We will start our joint experience with a warm welcome, sharing the story why we started COF an giving an outlook on what you can expect the two days!

In safety-critical environments, UX is often discussed in terms of usability, clarity, and efficiency. In reality, many operational systems are used by staff with limited experience, high stress exposure, and high turnover - a situation that challenges classic UX assumptions about trained, calm, and continuously improving users.

This talk explores the practical limits of UX in critical operations and asks a more uncomfortable question:

What can system design realistically support - and what must it deliberately restrict?

Drawing on real-world experience from safety-critical operational environments, the session examines how design decisions can reduce cognitive load, prevent unintended behaviour, and protect both staff and organisations from avoidable escalation. Topics include the difference between usability from inside versus outside an organisation, the role of controlled visibility and role-based communication, and why systems must sometimes reduce choice rather than enable it.

The talk also addresses the often-overlooked importance of routine system use: why tools that are only used in emergencies tend to fail in emergencies — and how everyday usage builds operational muscle memory long before pressure peaks.

Instead of claiming UX can fix everything, this session shows how it helps reduce complexity, guide people’s actions, and make responsibility clear when the stakes are high.

SIXTHSENSE supported first responders operating in extreme conditions through a wearable multimodal biosignal sensing system developed within the project. The system monitored vital signs, predicted physiological overload, and delivered real-time tactile alerts without burdening already saturated visual and auditory channels. JOANNEUM RESEARCH led the development of data intelligence and decision-support components. The team applied advanced AI methods to improve core body temperature estimation from multimodal data streams and to identify performance risks related to cognitive readiness. In addition, the project delivered a multimodal command tool that provided emergency coordinators with real-time psychophysiological status information to guide deployment, pacing, and recovery strategies – supporting safer and more sustainable operations. The consortium validated the system in field trials with firefighters and mountain rescue teams.

This talk presents a study, carried out by Mindset Technologies that validates a method for evaluating how the HMI design of ATM applications affects the cognitive load of air traffic controllers using ATC voice communication systems. The study focused on eye-tracking metrics such as fixations, saccades, blink rate, and blink duration. The collected data was then linked to perceived cognitive load, controllers’ self-reported decision-making performance, perceived usability, and resilience to human error. Two types of analysis were performed: one based on gaze and mind-tracking data, and another using the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) questionnaire to assess cognitive load. Both approaches proved effective for measuring mental workload. The talk presents the test methodology, describes the experimental laboratory setup, and discusses the results, which indicate that gaze tracking—particularly blink and saccade monitoring—is more sensitive to changes in cognitive load than subjective ratings such as NASA-TLX.

Over the past decade, organizations have optimized systems, processes, and technologies through digital transformation. Yet an unintended consequence has emerged: work has become cognitively denser, more fragmented, and more demanding for the human mind.

Stress, cognitive overload, and decision fatigue are no longer episodic issues, but structural conditions of modern work — especially in environments shaped by constant change and AI adoption. Despite growing investments in wellbeing, organizations still lack objective ways to understand how people are actually coping cognitively while operating under pressure. As a result, human performance remains largely invisible until breakdowns occur.

In this talk, Massimiliano Gattoni, CEO of NeuroMind AGI, introduces the concept of cognitive transformation: the next evolutionary step beyond digital transformation, where keeping humans in the loop becomes a design principle rather than a slogan.

By combining neuroscience and AI-based diagnostics, NeuroMind AGI enables organizations to make cognitive load, stress, and resilience measurable, visible, and actionable — while preserving human agency, judgment, and responsibility.

The session offers a pragmatic framework for leaders responsible for safety, performance, and people in complex systems, showing how treating the human mind as a critical infrastructure is key to sustainable innovation and operational resilience.

Head of to lunch with a summary of the key insights you experienced! Inspiration, fascination and dots to connect?

We will give you a taste of what’s coming in the afternoon!

Rules, procedures, and protocols form the backbone of industrial safety — carefully engineered guardrails designed to protect workers, assets, and the environment from catastrophic failure. Yet human beings persistently step outside these boundaries. Incidents happen. Disasters unfold. Drawing on frontline experience across high-stakes industrial environments, Mike explores the paradox at the heart of operational safety: the human being is simultaneously the system's greatest vulnerability and its most indispensable asset. Cognitive shortcuts, social pressure, fatigue, and the very expertise that makes workers effective quietly conspire to erode compliance in the moments that matter most. The human in the loop is not a problem to be engineered away. It is the irreducible reality we must learn to work with.

As Artificial Intelligence becomes a strategic driver in industry, transparency and accountability are emerging as executive-level priorities. Leaders must ensure that AI systems are not only accurate, but understandable, auditable, and aligned with regulatory and operational requirements.

This talk provides a high-level overview of Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) and its business relevance. We will examine the risks of “black-box” models and how explainability supports risk management, compliance, and stakeholder trust. A particular focus will be placed on industrial time series applications, such as predictive maintenance and process monitoring, where understanding the drivers behind model predictions is essential for root-cause analysis, reliable operations, and informed decision-making.

Consolidating multi-vendor SCADA HMIs across 8 control centers

operating more than 130+ hydroelectric power plants

VERBUND and Indicate Digital provide an exclusive insight into

the development of the new „OSC Hydro HMI Standard“ from both

the operations and design perspectives.

The presentation explains „High Performance HMI“ principles and

their connection to the recently released „IEC 63303 Human machine

interfaces for process automation systems“ standard. The practical

implications for the HMI design process are examined through the

lens of the „OSC Hydro“ project.

The discussion highlights key aspects of a successful

implementation, covering functional requirements to ensure HMIrelated

system capabilities as well as operator design-training and

the subsequent co-design process.

Examples from the final design demonstrate the execution from

micro (concept for alarm indication elements) to macro (interplay

with the new workstation design).

Air Traffic Control (ATC) towers represent one of the most safety-critical environments in modern transportation. As complex socio-technical systems, they operate under conditions where errors can have immediate and severe consequences. This presentation introduces the fundamentals of safety-critical systems and explores the unique operational, technical, and human challenges of conventional control towers.

It examines the specific circumstances that define tower operations, including high workload, time pressure, environmental factors, and the constant interaction between humans and technology. Particular emphasis is placed on the relationship between human error and system design, highlighting how professional safety culture—especially Just Culture and Crew Resource Management (CRM)—forms the backbone of resilient operations.

The presentation then introduces the Digital Tower concept, contrasting it with conventional towers and addressing key challenges such as technological reliability, redundancy, cybersecurity, and the differences in human perception when moving from direct visual observation to camera-based systems. Special attention is given to transition and change management processes, as well as the often underestimated human factors involved in digital transformation.

Finally, the proposed solution is presented: an integrated approach that combines multiple technologies into a cohesive system architecture, designed to maintain safety, enhance situational awareness, and support controllers in an evolving operational environment.

Enjoy a short reflection on the day, the insights, the speakers and the new connections!  And get a glimpse on day 2.

Thank you for a great conference day. Now it’s time to connect — keep the conversations going, exchange ideas, ask follow-up questions, and build new partnerships.