Analysis Techniques For Man-Machine Systems Design

NATO UNCLASSIFIED- 29 - AC/243(Panel-8)TR/7Volume 1.'-4jbcomnes*1 *46. As discussed in Chapter 1, the systems and equipment development processmoves through a series of phases or stages. The major phases in system or equipmentdevelopment and their associated products are shown in Figure 2.10. The various humanengineering analysis techniques are used in the different project phases as the system conceptmore fully defined. A major concern of the study was to identify effective techniquesauid to avoid applications which provide a low return on the effort invested in them. Therefore,* ASG representatives assessed the applicability of different human engineering techniques to fourdifferent types of system. These were:* simple (e.g., a rifle or hand-held radio)* medium-complexity (e.g., a one-person radar console)high-complexity single-operator (e.g., a single-seat attack aircraft)* high-complexity multi-operator (e.g., a ship's combat information centre)Using a consensus buliding technique, the responses were categorized as:* "Not Recommended" (N/R)$.0 * Low""Medium" or* "High"The pattern of responses shown in Table 2.3 is not unexpected. For simple systems, there is a4 recommendation to use only a few techniques. such as a narrative mission description andinformation-action tables or operational sequence diagrams. With growing complexity a largernumber of more complicated techniques is recommended. Available techniques for functionallocation are not highly recommended, because of their limitations.i'X47. Not all analysis techniques are relevant to all phases. Table 2.3 shows the overallopinion of the group, obtained through the same consensus building technique, rating thetechniques for various project phases. The phases used were reduced to four principle ones:* preliminary system studies* concept formulation and validation* design and development* system useThe effectiveness of an application depends on the system complexity and the characteristics of atechnique. As shown in the table, in most cases the effective use is limited to only one or twophases.NATOUNCLASSIFIED-29 -