Analysis Techniques For Man-Machine Systems Design

NATO UNCLASSIFtiEUACI243(Panei-8)TRI7VolumeI-76 -146. The quality assurance aspect of the various techniques are not widely understood.Managers and practitioners should pay more attention to quality assurance factors. The linkfrom human engineering analyses to system performance requirements is not direct. in mostcases. The majority of the "classic" human engineering analyses do not have a directrelationship to system performance requirements. Those analyses which have a direct link useinterval or ratio scale measures. The techniques used for function allocation are not yet mature,and the full sequence of analyses must be completed and reiterated if they are to address systemperformance.6.3 THE NEED FOR NEW OR IMPROVED TECHNIQUES147. Increasingly, modern systems emphasize knowledge-based operator behaviour.Available task analysis techniques cannot deal effectively with that class of behaviour. Morework is required to develop effective cognitive task analysis techniques. The growing.vpplication of decision aids and knowledge-based systems leads to new operator and maintainertasks. As these applications increase, so the need for suitable user task-analysis techniques will. ncrease.148. The growing emphasis on taking a truly integrated approach to projectdevelopment, including an integrated project data base. argues for finding a common approacr.to the definition of system functional and performance requirements, in order to include huimanfactors in system performance.149. The use of rapid prototyping and user interface management systems is growing.Therefore, there is a need to find the most effective way to combine task analysis and rapidprototyping and of using them within a design process that is more iterative than previous ones.150. Modem system design focuses increasingly on the user. More widespread use ofuser-centred design approaches and user analysis may require developments or modifications toexisting task analysis techniques.151. The steps recommended for developing systems specifications parallel those forhuman engineering (as outlined in Chapter 2). The techniques discussed in Chapter 3 anddescribed in Volume 2 are an important means of developing a specification for the humansystem components.6.4 THE NEED FOR STANDARDIZATION152. The review of over fifty standards, specifications, and guidelines for humanengineering showed that there are few requirements documents which govern humanengineering analytical techniques; most are design criteria specifications. Of the few national orNATO specifications that cover analytical techniques, most usually only identify or list thetechnique and do not provide additional employment or technical information.153. Existing handbooks and guides are not tailored to specific users of theinformation, and none cover information required by all their users, e.g., programmemanagers, human engineering specialist designers. and operational personnel.NATO UNCLASSIFIED- 76 -