Mode confusion is typical of Station design with shared control or shared display.
In this kind of design, the actual function activated and the data display on screen depend on the effective mode. The operators need to be aware of the effective mode in order to get the proper function or to perceive the proper information on screen. Often, they might miss the effective mode, resulting in activating the wrong function, or perceiving the wrong information.
In text editing, the focal point is at the cursor. If the Caps Lock state is indicated using a remote LED, the operators might miss it. They might type upper case letters when they intend to type lower case, and vice versa.
Updated on 28 May 2016.