DESIGNING COMPLEX SYSTEMS, SUCH AS THOSE USED BY NASA, REQUIRES A COORDINATED EFFORT AMONG A VARIETY OF ENG…

Public award description

DESIGNING COMPLEX SYSTEMS, SUCH AS THOSE USED BY NASA, REQUIRES A COORDINATED EFFORT AMONG A VARIETY OF ENGINEERING TEAMS. IN ORDER TO BE SUCCESSFUL, THE HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTIONS IN THESE SYSTEMS NEED TO FOLLOW A PRINCIPLE-BASED DESIGN PROCESS. IN PHASE II, TIER1 AND ALION PROPOSE TO CONTINUE DEVELOPMENT ON HFE-AT, RENAMING IT AND CREATING A HUMAN FACTORS ANALYSIS SUPPORT TOOL (H-FAST), WHICH WILL PROVIDE HUMAN FACTORS GUIDANCE AND SUPPORT TO ENGINEERING DESIGN TEAMS. THIS TOOL WILL BE USED THROUGHOUT THE DESIGN LIFECYCLE, AND WILL PROVIDE INPUTS TO ENGINEERS AND PROGRAM MANAGERS TO HELP THEM IDENTIFY AND AVOID POTENTIAL HUMAN FACTORS PROBLEMS EARLY IN THE DESIGN PROCESS. IT ALSO WILL PROVIDE DETAILED GUIDANCE REGARDING HUMAN FACTORS EVALUATIONS, AND IT WILL STORE DATA AND PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON THE RESULTS OF THESE EVALUATIONS. H-FAST WILL IMPROVE THE ENGINEERING DESIGN PROCESS BY PROVIDING ENGINEERS WITH EASY ACCESS TO DETAILED HUMAN FACTORS METHODS, RELEVANT RESEARCH, AND SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT CONTACT INFORMATION. THIS WILL EMPOWER ENGINEERS TO CREATE MORE USABLE SYSTEMS, THUS REDUCING THE NUMBER OF DESIGN ITERATIONS AND RESULTING IN HIGHER-QUALITY PRODUCTS.