Analysis Techniques For Man-Machine Systems Design

NATO UNCLASSIFIED35 AC/243(Panel-8)TRI7Volume iCHAPTER 3HUMAN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES3.1 INTRODUCTION48. The classes of analysis reviewed in section 2.3 are described in Volume 2 of thisreport Each analysis was reviewed to a standard format, including:. what the techniques do* inputs/outputs of the techniques. when to use* related techniques* resources required* advantages/disadvantages* relative contribution* applications* quality assurance considerations* relationship to system performance requirementsThese issues are summarized in the following sections.3.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TECHNIQUES3.2.1 What the techniques do49. The purposes of these techniques have been discussed in chapters 1 and 2. Theanalysis techniques permit designers and developers to define:* system missions* system functions* system operator and maintainer activities and tasks* required capabilities and workload of the system personnel* requirements for displays, controls, workspace and inter-personnel communication50. For the most part, the techniques are ways of structuring and decomposing thisinformation: they are not algorithms which transform input data. Thus they require some learningor experience. Historically, many human engineering techniques described a system as anetwork of functions or a sequence of operator tasks. More recent developments permit thedescription of systems obtained through function and task analysis to be checked for logicalconsistency, or treated as a model for computer simulation (Brathen et al., 1992).3.2.2 Inputs/outputs of the techniques51. The basic inputs to the analyses is the information on the operational requirement.As shown in Figure 3.1, the outputs of one class of analysis provides the inputs to others. Ingeneral, inputs and outputs involve events, sequences. times, functions, conditions, tasks,performance requirements, and display and control information. For example, a SAINT