Developing Human Factors Guidance for COTS Equipment Assessment

Abstract

This report describes the results of the work carried out on the HFI DTC work package 3.7.6: ‘HFI for COTS’ (commercial off-the-shelf). Whilst the use of COTS products generally prohibits influence on their design, the design of the socio-technical system into which the product needs to be integrated requires considerable attention. This is especially so when dealing with Human Factors (HF) aspects, which are often less tangible than engineering issues, and therefore more difficult to capture in requirements specifications and assessment metrics.

The work package resulted from an earlier recommendation (WP 3.1.4), having identified the need to “provide guidance for the assessment of COTS equipment in relation to HF and capability” [33]. It suggested the “extension of HFI guidance to cover the provision of systems procured as COTS items”, including the “development of a methodology to assess HF ‘fitness for purpose’ of COTS equipment and systems”. The increasing reliance on COTS products in the defence domain suggests the need for providing HF support, thus enabling HFI for all types of procurement.

This report identifies requirements for providing HF guidance for COTS equipment from a practical perspective, by identifying characteristics and processes of COTS equipment selection activities on the one hand, and HF impact, on the other. It presents the development of a tool in the shape of a checklist for a broad HFI COTS equipment assessment, aiming to support high-level decision-making processes for HFI. The assessment tool aims to capture the breadth of potential HF impacts for the specific requirements of COTS products. The COTS equipment assessment tool can be used as a stand-alone aid, or may be incorporated into the desktop tool.

Section 2 discusses the need for providing HFI guidance for COTS products. Section 3 identifies HFI COTS guidance requirements, by reviewing existing HF approaches. Section 4 reviews the breadth of COTS products and identifies COTS-specific HF impact areas. Section 5 further reviews the characteristics of COTS products and assessment approaches that exist in non-HF domains. Section 6 clarifies the process of COTS product assessments, to understand the questions, activities, and decisions that the tool should support. Section 7 describes a prototype of a Human Factors COTS assessment checklist in the shape of a questionnaire.