Safeguarding Human Potential in Automated Work Systems: A Capability-Centred Framework for Design and Evaluation
TL;DR
The HPA framework is introduced, a capability-centred evaluative framework that integrates perspectives from cognitive ergonomics, work design, and human-centred AI through four dimensions: Optimisation, Retention, Expansion, and Engagement.
Abstract
Automation and AI increasingly reshape work systems beyond task execution, influencing how human capabilities are used, preserved, or transformed. Cognitive ergonomics traditionally evaluates automation through constructs such as workload, situation awareness, trust, and function allocation. While these perspectives explain important aspects of performance and interaction quality, they do not provide an integrated lens for evaluating how automation shapes human capabilities over time. This paper introduces the Human Potential in Automation (HPA) framework, a capability-centred evaluative framework that integrates perspectives from cognitive ergonomics, work design, and human-centred AI through four dimensions: Optimisation, Retention, Expansion, and Engagement. To operationalise the framework, we introduce a lightweight tool (“action cards”) to support participatory design reflection, and propose a concise 12-item companion scale to enable systematic evaluation of capability outcomes. We illustrate the framework through an exploratory multi-case study involving four industrial stakeholders in AI-supported quality control. The findings demonstrate the practical utility of the framework for identifying capability-related design considerations that extend beyond traditional performance-focused evaluation, contributing an integrative capability-centred perspective for the design and evaluation of automated work systems.
