MAP-01-010 HFI Management Guide - Human Factors Integration ...

Chapter 2 – HFI Processes and Mechanisms
2.2.4 Acceptance and In-Service Date
The DEC is the Acceptance Authority. At an early stage during the acquisition
process, the IPT Leader and the DEC will agree an acceptance strategy that will
identify how the acceptance process will be applied, and will enable an Integrated
Test, Evaluation and Acceptance Plan (ITEAP) to be drawn up. Acceptance is a
progressive process that goes through the following stages, see Table 2-1.
Stages
Acceptance
‘Stage’
Description
1 User and
System
Requirement
2 Design
Certification
3 Initial
Acceptance
4 System
Acceptance
5 In-Service
Date
Acceptance occurs when these requirements and the
acceptance criteria are endorsed by end users and
stakeholders.
Agreed by the IPT Leader
This takes place where Service use is required before
System Acceptance is achievable.
System Acceptance determines whether the system
acquired by the IPT satisfies the SRD as assessed by
the DEC.
In-Service Date is declared when the military
capability provided by the system is assessed as
available for operational use. In-Service Date
acceptance requires that there is a usable quantity of
the system integrated with all essential supporting
elements declared by the DEC.
Table 2-1: Project Acceptance Stages
HFI input to the acceptance process is required at an early stage. In many
projects, HFI input to the Integrated Test, Evaluation and Acceptance Plan
(ITEAP) is necessary to detail the types of Human Factors analysis, testing and
acceptance criteria required to ensure that the user requirements are met. In
addition, HFI input to Stage 1 of the Acceptance process is enabled via HFI
mechanisms such as HFI Working Groups, HF analyses and initial user testing
with mock-ups and early prototypes. HFI input to user trials to support System
Acceptance is usually required.
2.3 The HFI Component of System Readiness
The MoD Acquisition Management System (AMS) identifies the need to
periodically assess project progress in relation to planned targets in order to
successfully manage risk. A major contributor to this process is the concept and
application of System Readiness Levels (SRLs) to assess the maturity of a
Nov 2006 Page 2-7 Issue 4