The term Operational consistency refers to the property of functional independence of the system situation. It is the primary means to prevent mode confusion
A main pattern of operational errors is related to mode confusion. This term refers to wrong function selection when using a shared control, or sharing a display area with mode dependent information. The selection of the wrong function and the change of information on the display are perceived as inconsistency,
A control is operationally consistent if the response to activating it is perceived as always being the same, regardless of the situation .
A display is operationally consistent if the information displayed is the same, regardless of the system situation.
The interaction is operationally consistent if all the controls and displays are operationally consistent.
Updated on 26 Apr 2016.