Human Factors Evaluation Mentor

To obtain valid and reliable data, Human Factors Engineering (HFE) evaluations are currently conducted by people with specialized training and experience in HF. HFE evaluations designed and conducted by engineers without the necessary HF expertise run the risk of producing useless or misleading results. Alternatively, the HFE is simply not conducted. To ameliorate these problems, MTI proposes to develop the Human Factors Evaluation Mentor (HFEM) to guide non-HF experts in the design and conduct of HFE. The HFEM will use an innovative combination of Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) and Rule-Based Systems (RBS) to develop prescriptive designs for a set of routine HF evaluation methods. This powerful combination has not been used previously in advisory systems. The cases and rules used to develop the evaluation prescription will be drawn from a team of highly experienced HFE professionals. A characteristic of CBR is that successful applications add to the case data base and thereby continuously improve the HFEM. In Phase I MTI will develop and demonstrate a limited number of evaluation methods. Phase 2 work will expand the scope of evaluation types included in the HFEM incorporating HFE methods that best meet NASA's needs.