Processes for achieving effective Human Factors Integration
Background
Recent years have seen increased understanding of the vital role of Human Factors Integration (HFI) in system effectiveness, safety and reliability - in civil as well as military enterprises. Concerns, however, remain about the effectiveness of HFI within the whole system life cycle. The goal of HFI has been to improve the process by which human factors considerations are integrated into the procurement of defence equipment, and is of growing importance to the MoD.Evidence suggests, however, that the application of HFI is currently not without problems. As the nature of operations and technologies change, a more effective HFI process may be required to support acquisition.
The goal of this programme is to evaluate, modify and improve the current HFI process to better support the MoD. It will build on the existing research base with a view to developing improved and more integrated processes for HFI within the CADMID lifecycle.
To achieve the aims above the following research will be conducted:
Identify barriers to Integrating Human FactorsBarriers to the application of the current HFI process were researched through reviews of existing research and literature and outputs of previous working groups. An audit/gap analysis of current UK defence and civil HFI programme has been performed to determine the needs and scope of future work. Current barriers and future requirements have been explored via discussions/workshops with IPTs/practitioners ( including both military and civil organisations).
HFI initiatives both within and outside of MoD HFI have been reviewed and include pull-through from civil domains such as Air Traffic Management, Transport/Rail, Nuclear and Safety Critical industries.
Identify emerging trends in Human Factors IntegrationEmerging trends in research methods, business process engineering, complex systems and emergent technologies, within the MoD, academia and industry have been reviewed to determine whether the HFI process needs to be expanded.
The relationships between HFI and Systems Engineering were examined to establish overlap and determine whether modifications to the HFI process would make it more applicable within a systems engineering acquisition environment.
Investigate current and future uses of synthetic environmentsThe current and future use of synthetic environments and software tools and methods to support HFI, have been investigated through a review of existing tools and development of a database of the Synthetic Environment and software tools currently in use to support HFI.
Consolidate requirements and deliver reportAs a result of the work carried out to investigate the HFI process changes will be made to the process and its supporting methods and tools to reflect the MoD requirements.
- Detailed information on research and downloadable reports
- Questions on this area of research can be addressed to Georgina Fletcher
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