Frontline Issue 09 - Human Factors Integration Defence Technology ...

HFI DTC Newsletter Issue 9Human Factors Integration Defence Technology CentreEditorial - Prof Bob StoneIt’s been some time since the last edition of Frontlinewas published. During this period, we have been busycompleting a much-revised edition of the HFI DTC’sYearbook, soft copies of which can be downloadedfrom our Website (www.hfidtc.com); hard copies canbe obtained by contacting myself or Dr Karen Lane– addresses on the back page.Of course, the Yearbook has not been our only activity– far from it! As can be seen from the contents ofthis edition, an enormous amount of effort has beenexpended over the past 12 months or so, both inengaging with end users and in refining our tools andmethodologies so that they’re ready for exploitationthroughout the defence communities with which weengage.On the theme of end user engagement, later in this edition of Frontline I write aboutmy short sea trip with the nuclear submarine HMS Tireless. Standing on Tireless’ fin andstaring in awe at the full force of the English Channel battering the submarine’s casing,I could not help but feel total admiration for the 130 crewmembers who defend ourcountry by skilfully navigating what is, in effect, a small black tube through some of themost hazardous oceanic areas on this planet. Whilst onboard Tireless, I got the chanceto sit and speak with many of the serving officers and senior rates, demonstratingthe SubSafe “serious game” (reported in a previous edition of Frontline) and talkingabout issues like recruitment, conditions and personnel retention. It’s amazing howsubmariners “open up” once their boat has passed beneath the surface!Over the past few months, I’ve also had the privilege of working in the field withcolleagues from the UK Submarine Rescue Service (UKSRS), the Defence Explosives,Munitions and Search School (DEMSS) and the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine(RCDM). My DTC colleague, Prof Stanton and his Brunel team have also spent timeContentsEditorialHFI DTC Director RetiresHFI DTC Awarded NewContractAt Sea with HMS TirelessOFT3 TrialsSocial andOrganisational: the 7thDomainCultural AwarenessDecision Support ToolSySML for HFIDiving with UK’sSubmarine RescueTeamHelping IPTs apply HFIShedding Light on ourResearchHFI DTC AwardedErgonomics President’sMedalHFI DTC ConsortiumProfessionalAchievementsThe Human Fctors andErgonomics SocietyConference 2008Meet the TeamThe Director’s Cutin the field, providing a significant and valuable Human Factors input to a field trial of the BOWMAN ComBATInfrastructure and Platform (BCIP) in Sennelager, Germany. The results of that project are already having widereachingimplications for the future operational effectiveness of BCIP.As a Human Factors specialist, I believe that there is nothing more productive or rewarding than to engage withend users throughout a project lifecycle. In fact I think such engagement should be a mandatory requirementfor all Human Factors projects! Often I am confronted with the activities of other groups in the defence HumanFactors community and I find myself questioning how many of their recommendations have been based onactual engagement with stakeholders, as opposed to behind-the-desk literature searches.Making a difference demands close interaction with those for whom the difference will bring major benefits.With this in mind, we will soon be sending out invitations for the defence community to come along to ourAnnual HFI DTC Symposium, to be held at DE&S, Abbey Wood on 04 March 2009. In line with my commentsabove, we’re planning to deliver technical presentations alongside those of our stakeholders to reinforce thepoint that the HFI DTC’s brand of Human Factors research really is making a difference.1

HFI DTC Director RetiresAuthor: Prof Bob StoneThe backdrop of Thornbury Castle, just north of Bristol,provided an impressive and fitting venue on 28February 2008 for the HFI DTC personnel and MODcolleagues to throw a goodbye party, celebrating theretirement of the Centre’s Director, Dr David Morris. Itsimply didn’t seem like 6-7 years ago that we first metDavid, all huddled together in one of Aerosystemscel from the classic TV cartoon series Top Cat, signedby the creators Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera. Davidalways used to refer to the management of the DTCas akin to “herding cats” – nothing could be furtherfrom the truth, of course! Coincidentally, in a smallbook passed around for attendees to write theirparting comments, Prof. Neville Stanton had includedthe lyrics from the opening titles of that very cartoon:Top Cat!The most effectual Top Cat!Whose intellectual close friends get to call him TCProviding it’s with dignityTop Cat!The indisputable leader of the gangHe’s the boss, he’s a pip, he’s the championshipHe’s the most tip top,Top Cat.Yes he’s a chief, he’s a king,But above everything,He’s the most tip top,Top Cat!From Top Left: Prof Bob Stone, Prof. NevilleStanton, Dr David Morris and Dr Karen LaneInternational’s meeting rooms in Yeovil, trying to thrashout what was to become the winning bid for the DTC.However, since that time, David managed to keepus all on the straight and narrow, directing the Centrewith confidence and treating all of the collaborators– academics and industrialists – with fairness andenthusiasm. It comes as no surprise, therefore, thathe was not only our leader, but a very good friend aswell.David has spent the majority of his working life in theland, sea and air defence domains, conducting R&Dand new system or product design and development.His understanding of the process of undertaking MODsponsored R&D was, therefore, a critical factor in thesuccess of the original HFI DTC bid. David’s work hasresulted in inventions and patents and an in-depthunderstanding of the means of applying scarce R&Dresources to achieve objectives and progress forcustomers in difficult new concept areas. A raft of skills,including technical management and consultancy,operational and defence analysis, systems design,simulation and modelling meant that, during hiscareer, David was regularly given the responsibility formanaging a variety of conceptual and developmentdefence projects, both large and small.Following an excellent meal at the Castle, it wasmy pleasure, on behalf of his HFI DTC and MODcolleagues, to present David with an original cartoonAs our indisputable “Top Cat”, David was always verysupportive of activities where the end users were fullyengaged - a major theme of this edition of Frontline.He also didn’t do a bad job at all in herding us tobecome, in my opinion, the UK’s leading humanfactors centre with a significant and ever-growinginternational reputation.A leader, negotiator, mediator and a gentleman aswell. What more could anyone have asked for in acat herder?! We wish TC and his wife Wendy all thevery best as they start a well-deserved life of luxurysomewhere deep in the Dorset countryside!Dr David Morris giving his farewell speech2

HFI DTC Awarded New ContractAuthor: Dr Karen Lane2008 ended on a positive note for the HFI DTC teamwith the announcement by the MOD of a £5mcontract extension.The HFI DTC research programme, led by AerosystemsInternational, focuses on the integration of HumanFactors across the MOD procurement cycle. Ourpartners are from defence industrial and academicorganisations including Lockheed Martin UKIS, MBDA,SEA Ltd and the Universities of Birmingham, Brunel,and Cranfield (Bedfordshire & Shrivenham sites).Additional expertise is brought in to support the coreteam as and when required. Fifteen organisations,including many Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs),have contributed to the HFI DTC research programmeover the past six years. Southampton University will bejoining the core HFI DTC team from April 2009.The new research programme, which will run fromApril 2009 until September 2010, includes a rangeof pure and applied human-centred researchthemes aligned to the Defence Technology Plan andthus the needs of the MOD and the wider defencecommunity.The research themes we have proposed for 2009/10include:• Collective Training. The issue of conductingeffective collective training has been of particularinterest to the MOD for some time. This programmeaims to address the evaluation of extant trainingsystems through the development of improvedmetrics. The programme will also focus ondeveloping methodologies to support collectiveTraining Needs Analysis.• HFI for Urgent Operational Requirements (UORs).UORs are a major and increasingly importantfeature of today’s operations. MOD personneltherefore need tools and guidance to supportthem in assessing equipment procured in responseto rapidly changing operational requirements.This programme aims to develop ‘risk-based’HFI guidance to support the rapid assessmentof Human Factors issues prior to the operationaldeployment of equipment.• Information Visualisation. This work is focused onexploring the Human Factors issues surroundingthe use of live video to support shared situationawareness, particularly from ‘ground’ to HQ, andthe impact on decision making and operationalcommand.• The Human in the Networked Targeting Chain.Future weapons concepts rely heavily onNetwork Enabled Capability and an increasinguse of third-party targeting information whichoperators depend on to make their deploymentand engagement decisions. This project aimsto identify those human activities and decisionswhich could benefit from decision-support andwill examine the benefits that decision-supporttechnologies might offer.• Use of Speech in the Interrogation of Autonomous& Semi-autonomous Systems. The use of speechdialogue is being considered for use in futureuninhabited systems and also in homelanddefence applications. Speech dialogue offersthe potential to alleviate workload by enabling theoperator to use auditory and verbal channels tocommunicate with the system and to interrogateits data. The objective of this work package isto review the current status of speech dialogueresearch and to investigate the associated humanissues.• After Action Review Support. The aim of thiswork package is to identify After Action Reviewbest practice for collective training. After ActionReviews form a critical part of the collective trainingprocess. The provision of effective feedback aboutperformance is central to the learning process. Inthe previous phase of the HFI DTC programme,the AAR process at Battle Group level at all LandWarfare Centre (LWC) collective training locationswas investigated and compared with the findingsfrom the literature to determine best practice andidentify where improvements could be made. Atthe request of LWC this study is to be extendedto compare British Army practice with that of theUS Army and the Canadian Army, which theyconsider to have similar requirements.• Interactive 3D and Gaming Technologies.Research and development programmesaddressing the exploitation of games-basedtechnologies for defence training applicationsare gathering pace, particularly in North America,Scandinavia and Australia. However, attention toHuman Factors issues, particularly during earlytask analysis and design phases and post-deliveryevaluation, is still quite rare. The HFI DTC hasestablished itself as an internationally-recognisedorganisation in respect of the Human Factorsissues associated with this form of simulation and,since 2003, has developed a considerable bodyof knowledge and mini case studies relating tothe design and implementation of games-basedtraining, based on the rapid development andevaluation of “de-risking” demonstrators, suchas the Alchemy UAV scenarios, the RN Minigun,SubSafe, IED Search & Disposal and the InteractiveTrauma Trainer. The work proposed for 2009/10seeks both to extend and consolidate this workand to continue to strengthen the technologybasedtraining expertise of the HFI DTC.3

At Sea with HMS TirelessAuthor: Prof Bob StoneIn the middle of November 2007, I took part in a“nautical weekend”, riding waves ranging in heightfrom 1 to 3 metres in a small diver excursion boaten route from Plymouth’s historic Barbican to WhitsandBay. Once there, we conducted a successfulremotely-operated vehicle (ROV) survey of the Scyllaartificial reef (in support of our Virtual Scylla project,described in Frontline 7). Little did I know that I wasdestined to return to the English Channel just southof that very reef a week later to experience stormforce 10 winds and sea states from 5 to 8! The onlydifference this time was that the trip was onboardone of Her Majesty’s Trafalgar Class submarines, HMSTireless. The sea trip was undertaken as part of theHFI DTC’s ongoing SubSafe “Safe Submariner” seriousgames project, also reported in Frontline 7.HMS Tireless about to SailDeparting at 07:55 Zulu on 01 December from theMOD jetty at Millbay Dock in Plymouth, the RoyalMaritime Auxiliary Service transfer vessel RMAS Padstowproceeded towards the Plymouth Breakwater andDelta Buoy, the temporary mooring point for HMSTireless. As well as myself, joining the vessel for thetrip (originally planned to last 12 hours) was a group ofseven Naval Young Officer students from the BritanniaRoyal Naval College (BRNC) in Dartmouth, the formerHigh Sheriff of Tyne and Wear and Advisor to theHouse of Lords Defence Select Committee, and HMSTireless’ new Executive Officer. We were welcomedonto the casing by Tireless’ Commanding Officer,Cdr Ed Ahlgren and ushered quickly down into theSenior Rates’ mess for an introductory talk and safetybriefing. Afterwards, we were accompanied to theboat’s Weapons Stowage Compartment (WSC, or“bombshop”) and allocated our temporary bunks forthe trip. Mine was clipped to one of the port-side lowertorpedo rails, adjacent to a Spearfish torpedo and aTLAM (Tomahawk Land Attack Missile). The temporary“rider” bunks closely resembled autopsy trays, madeto look marginally more comfortable by the provisionof a thin futon-like mattress and a small quilt!Tireless slipped her mooring at 08:40 Zulu and begana surface transit towards the UK’s South Coast ExerciseAreas. Once past the Plymouth Breakwater, it becameevident that this trip was not going to be one of thesmoothest passages on record and it was not longbefore four of the BRNC students and at least one ofthe submarine’s crew were forced to avail themselvesof the Wardroom heads! During the passage, I wasgiven freedom to explore the boat (I think the crewhad been advised that, courtesy of the SubSafevirtual environment, I should know where I was going!).Indeed, I was afforded the opportunity to presentSubSafe to the Senior Rates during the surface transit.I was informed later that the presentation had beenwell received, even by two of the most notorioussceptics onboard!Tireless dived at 11:20 Zulu, approximately 18nautical miles south of Plymouth Breakwater in75m of water. During the dive, the fin-mountedcameras, looking up towards the top of the searchperiscope, captured dolphins swimming around themast wells as we descended to around 50 meters.During the time spent underwater, a number ofexercises and explanatory talks were delivered byvarious crewmembers. These included a simulatedSpearfish attack team demonstration, periscopedepth navigation activities, listening to dolphins andvery distant trawler activities in the sonar room. Wewere also given an excellent summary of nuclearpropulsion in the Manoeuvring Room by the DeputyMarine Engineering Officer, followed by a concisereview of the Submarine Command System (SMCS)and the calculation of weapons discharge solutionsby its supervisory Chief Petty Officer.Prof Bob Stone at the helm4

Cdr Ahlgren also invited me to experience depthkeeping and heading changes at the helm. Pilotinga submarine of over 8 metres draught at around 50metres depth in 75 metres of water is an interestingand awe-inspiring exercise, particularly in ascendingand diving manoeuvres. The procedure is similar toflying, although requires the monitoring of 2 analoguedisplays, one showing the current pitch-up and pitchdownangle, the other more of a “predictor” display.In contrast, turning to port and starboard using theboat’s rudder required less cognitive effort, althoughthe selection of the boat’s depth autopilot (thankfully)removed a lot of the skill shown by the submarine’spermanent helmsmen.At 23:55, Tireless surfaced some 16 nauticalmiles south of the Breakwater. A rest break wasrecommended at this time. However, disturbed bythe occasional boat-wide communication and fallingout of the temporary bunk onto the WSC floor due tothe regular rolling of the submarine, sleep was almostimpossible in the 4 hours I tried to remain next to myTLAM bedfellow!The original schedule was for Tireless to return toPlymouth Sound, discharge its initial group of “riders”and take a new group onboard, including theDirector General (DG) Ships. Unfortunately, as theboat approached the southern extremity of PlymouthSound, local weather reports were not favourableand as the previous morning’s approach to DeltaBuoy had, from a safety perspective, been marginalat best, Tireless’ CO took the decision to abort thetransfer and return to the Northernmost boundary ofthe UK South Coast Exercise Areas, there to conducta westerly and easterly sailing pattern for the best partof 18 hours.In total, the trip lasted some 34 hours, during whichwe were submerged for approximately 12 hoursand the remainder was spent on the surface, oftenin “shut-down” conditions, “loitering” in severe galesand extreme sea state conditions and waiting for awindow of opportunity to return safely to PlymouthSound. During slightly calmer conditions (althoughnot that much calmer!), there was an opportunityto spend time on the bridge. Climbing up throughthe submarine’s fin, stopping about half-way with twomembers of the submarine’s crew in a tiny chamber,to close the hatch into the control room and open thehatch to the bridge, was quite an effort for someoneof my build! Nevertheless, there is something ratherawesome – and very difficult to put into words –about standing on the windswept bridge of a rollingsubmarine, surrounded by high seas and a backdropof dark storm clouds.Prof Bob Stone on the BridgeWe finally arrived at the Breakwater around 18:00 on02 December and departed onboard another RMASvessel for Millbay Dock. In many respects, leaving thevessel so soon was frustrating, as I had just started togain the crew’s trust and some very interesting humancentredstories and concerns about conditions in theRN Submarine Service were beginning to emerge.These included accounts of bravery and courageshown by the boat’s complement during the tragicevents in March 2007 that claimed the lives of twoof Tireless’ crew and severely injured another. Maybethere will be another opportunity to follow-up on thistrip in the future, once SubSafe has completed itsinitial phase of evaluation. In the meantime, andbearing in mind that they must receive visits like thison a regular basis, I should state that the officers andcrew of HMS Tireless were enormously supportive andhelpful and I cannot thank them enough for their timeand patience, both from a personal standpoint, andon behalf of the HFI DTC.View from the Bridge5

Authors: Professor Neville Stanton, Dr Daniel Jenkins,Dr Guy Walker, Dr Paul Salmon, Kirsten Revell, LauraRaffertyOFT3 TrialsAs part of the HFI DTC’s ongoing relationship with theCommand and Control Development Centre (C2DC)a group of research analysts, the authors of thisarticle, were invited to attend the Operational FieldTrial (OFT3) of BCIP5 (BOWMAN ComBAT Infrastructureand Platform) in November 2007 at Sennelager,Germany. The authors were tasked with providing anevaluation of the Human Factors and usability of theBCIP system. The military relevance of this project isextremely high. The report provides guidance on acurrent programme affecting the conversion of over18,000 platforms, including vehicles, helicopters,naval vessels, landing craft and fixed HQ buildings.Emphasis was placed on the activities at the Brigade(Bde) and the Battle Group (BG) headquarters (HQ)levels. The analysts distributed their time evenlybetween these two locations. It was not possible toperform an evaluation of the BOWMAN system withinthe vehicles; however, a cursory investigation hashighlighted some issues that warrant further study.Specifically, this research addresses the impact ofdigitisation on the activities of planning and battlefieldmanagement. The report addresses issues such asthe applicability of the current process to digitisation,as well as a more specific evaluation of the BOWMANsystem.During the course of the three week trial a multi-methodapproach was adopted and a range of methodsselected and developed by the HFI DTC specificallyfor the analysis of complex military domains wereapplied. The approach included:Brigade HQ at the OFT3• observation of people using ComBAT in the courseof their work – to understand the extent to whichComBAT supports the planning and operationaltasks in the HQ,• an analysis of the system constraints usingCognitive Work Analysis – to understand if ComBATis better or worse than the conventional paperbasedapproach,• analysis of the Distributed Situation Awareness – tounderstand the extent to which it supports situationawareness during collaborative working,• Assessment against EEMUA (EngineeringEquipment & Materials Users Association) 201 – tounderstand if ComBAT meets with best HumanFactors practice in control system interfacedesign,• user subjective assessment against a standardUsability Questionnaire – to gauge user reactionsto the system, and• an environmental survey - to understand the extentto which the environment within which people areworking meets with BS/EN/ISO 11064 EnvironmentRequirements for Control Centres (the BritishStandard relevant to control room environments).The multi-faceted research approach revealeda number of common themes; each of theresearch approaches applied proved to be broadlycomplementary, confirming a number of commonconclusions.The User Data Terminal with ComBAT softwareThe conclusions and recommendations from this workhave been made available to DEC CCII.6

Social and Organisational: the 7th DomainAuthor: Dr Georgina FletcherHuman Factors Integration (HFI) is a systematic processfor ensuring human related issues are considered indefence acquisition. Core areas of Human Factorsconsidered are: manpower, personnel, training,human factors engineering, health hazards andsystem safety. In recent years a seventh social andorganisational domain was also added. This was inrecognition of the importance of broader human andorganisational issues associated with Network EnabledCapability and the Comprehensive Approach. Theintroduction of Through Life Capability Management(TLCM) and focus across all Defence Lines ofDevelopment also encourages consideration of thesocial and organisational factors in acquisition.OrganisationalConfigurationSocial EnvironmentWays of Working••••••••••••••••••••••••StructureCommand structureStaffing levelsConnectivityRoles &responsibilitiesJob designTeam designCultureTrustDoctrineEthosCore valuesPrideAllegianceInformal structuresLeadershipPoliciesProcesses &proceduresPracticesInformation sharingMethod ofcommunicationTimescales ofoperationsWorking timesChangemanagementPrototype SOF – main factorsAlthough the new HFI Social and Organisationaldomain reflects many existing areas of knowledge inHuman Factors, e.g. macroergonomics, guidance tosupport designers of defence capability is limited. Thisresearch was established to address this issue. Its aimis to provide definition and guidance for incorporatingsocial and organisational factors (SOF) into HFI. Thisarticle describes the first stages of activity to meet thisgoal.A scoping study was conducted to develop a clearerunderstanding of the specific types of SOF important fordefence and through this to bind the definition of socialand organisational factors. This involved consultationwith three levels of stakeholders with perspectivesfrom: operations (e.g. the Maritime Warfare Centre),design/acquisition (e.g. an industry provider) andconcepts/capability (e.g. Development, Conceptsand Doctrine Centre). A number of common themeswere identified in the findings from across the threelevels, such as issues of organisational practices, theculture associated with information sharing, workingtimes and timescales. A targeted literature review wasundertaken to establish how much was known aboutthe specific issues within defence. A separate reviewwas also conducted to explore the backgroundcultural influences that need to be considered in thedesign of military capability.A prototype SOF Framework (see figure) wasdeveloped using information collected in the scopingstudy and general Human Factors and organisationalpsychology literature. The framework comprises threehigh level factors: Organisational Configuration, SocialEnvironment, and Ways of Working. These cover themain areas for consideration as they address structure,motivation and processes. Each of the three mainfactors is subdivided into a number of elements andsub-elements. For each of the elements guidanceis given in the form of characteristics and heuristics,background information and research, sources ofinformation, and tools and techniques. A section willalso be included with military examples.The framework is still under development. Nextstages of the project will see this being reviewedwith stakeholders and other researchers to confirmthe content, collect military examples for the variouselements and to identify additional tools andtechniques. A separate activity will be to developa process to support those using the framework onprojects. Initial presentation of this work suggests thatthe SOF could have use beyond the traditional scopeof HFI users. Therefore, continued involvement withmilitary stakeholders is critical to ensure the content isrelevant and usable for their various needs.7

Authors: David Leahy and Clare BorrasCultural Awareness Decision Support ToolBackgroundMilitary operations are becoming more multi-nationaland are increasingly focused on peace-keeping,operations other than war (OOTW), and counterinsurgencytype operations. The day-to-day culturalinteractions with the local population can unwittinglyturn a potential ‘friend’ or ‘neutral’ into an enemyor induce locals to provide help or information toinsurgents. When U.S. forces tried to keep civilian carsfrom blundering into the path of the invasion forcein 2003, said Maj. Ben Connable, a Marine Corpsforeign-cultures expert, “we started out just by tryingto wave them down, by putting a hand out – ‘Stop!’-- with the palm forward and this wasn’t working at all.It was an Army foreign-area officer who realized thatthe ‘Stop’ gesture was the Iraqi symbol for ‘Welcome,come forward!’ We were actually motioning peopleto come forward, because we had no culturaltraining.”Current UK cultural training initiatives either take placeonly in a pre-deployment timeframe (thus subjectto recall deterioration for the material over time),or the information is hidden in cultural awarenessWebsites – making it difficult to extract the relevantpertinent information. Small cultural awareness paperbooklets are deployed to troops in-theatre, but theyquickly deteriorate and contain limited amounts ofinformation.Thus in an effort to help win the battle of ‘hearts andminds’ and improve cultural relations within the multinationalforce, it was felt that some kind of portable‘cultural awareness decision support tool’ might beExample Scenarioone avenue to investigate to help improve the culturalawareness of forces presently deployed abroad. Itmay also help handle the ‘knowledge vacuum’ thatoccurs when such troops finish their tour and takewith them the cultural knowledge that they haveaccumulated.The purpose of this research was to understandrequirements for information on cultural issues andto work-up scenarios to provide cultural guidancefor deployed forces in Afghanistan. A prototype wasdeveloped out of early requirements and used as afocal point for discussion.Requirements AnalysisRequirements for the prototype were identifiedthrough consultation with stakeholders who included:MOD cultural experts involved with training, medicalpersonnel previously deployed to Afghanistan, andstaff involved in post-operation debriefing. Informationwas gathered through a series of questionnaires,interviews and analysis of post-operative reports.The cultural issues were then organised via a culturalframework and strategies developed to advisetroops on appropriate courses of action. Fromthis, requirements for scenarios providing on-thejobguidance within the context of particular taskswere developed in consultation with the stakeholdergroup.Cultural FrameworkTo classify cultural information such as values,beliefs, behaviours etc. a number of approaches fordescribing cultural characteristics and highlightingcultural differences were assessed for applicabilityto the military domain. These included the work byDescription/ExplanationScenario Wrong House Search If a wrong house was searchedrecompense should be made torestore honour to the senior malemembers of the householdRecommended ActionsAs soon as possible, return to publiclyrestore honour to the householdSacrifice a domestic animal publicly infront of the houseArrange for a financial compensationagreed at a public ‘shura’ (villagemeeting)The household will be shamed until apublic apology has been madePublic display of apologyIt is common for Afghans to acceptfinancial compensation for a wrongdoing against themAppropriate Phrases Who’s in charge ? Tsok salaahiyat larey ?SorryWo bakhe/ bakhshenaRelated ‘War Stories’In 2006, British arms serving in Mazar-e-sharif conducted an aggressive housesearch but searched the wrong house. They restored honour to the householdby returning to the house in minutes, with a live sheep and publicly slaughteringit in front of the house and then presenting the carcass to the household. Itprovided the house with free meat for a week or more, but it was also a publicact of apology, which was well received and accepted.Table showing Example Scenario8

Hofstede (1991)and Klein (2004).However, nonehad been used todescribe Afghaniculture, which wasthe focus for thestudy.The classificationsystem selected wasThe NetherlandsOrganisation forapplied scientificresearch (TNO)cultural framework(2007) developedto train militarypersonnel to analysecultural factorsas they influenceoperations. It hasbeen used in theRoyal Netherlands Army to raise cultural awareness andsupport better interactions with those from adversarycultures. The framework consists of six themes thatcapture the range of cultural issues likely to impactmilitary tasks:1.2.3.4.5.6.PDA screen shot showinga soldier talking to VillageEldersHonour and Face: Describes behaviour requiredto maintain respect and social standing.Hierarchy and Social Stratification: Describessocial hierarchy of those within any social situation,e.g. a community or meeting.Purity, Danger and Taboos: Describes rules aboutissues considered offensive or unacceptable in asociety that should be respected.Proxemics and the Body: Describes the layout ofbuildings, social distance between people andbody language norms within a given society.Speech Acts: Describes conversation patternsin various settings such as when arrangingappointments or being involved in negotiations.Worldview and Belief Systems. Describes issuesthat influence cultural philosophy.The framework was then applied to Afghani cultureand extended from training to supporting on the jobdecision-making.Decision Support ToolOur solution was to organise the information usingthe TNO cultural framework and then ‘chunking’related information via ‘scenarios’ which the enduser could easily search for. Once a scenario hasbeen located, the system would list recommendedactions for that particular cultural scenario (as well asexplanations). The user could also look at multi-mediacontent including relevant pictures (e.g. of gestures),appropriate language phrases (and their audioplaying) and relevant ‘war stories’ of how troops havesuccessfully dealt with similar scenarios in the past. Theprototype (of 20 military & military medical) scenarioswas implemented in .NET compact framework on aPersonal Data Assistant (PDA), which can potentiallyhold 4GB of data.UsageFeedback from our stakeholders (military and militarymedical) indicated that a portable PDA culturaldatabase implementation would be useful, butwould most probably consulted more in a ‘downtime’ timeframe, or when planning a mission or at apre-mission brief.Recommendations and ConclusionsFeedback from a number of the stakeholders indicatedthat, although such a ‘dedicated’ cultural awarenessdecision support tool might be consulted during ‘downtime’ or at a pre-mission brief, it would probably not becarried or used on-the-ground. Instead, stakeholderssuggested that such a solution may have a better‘uptake’ if it was combined with, for example, alanguage translator or tutorial tool, or added on toexisting applications (e.g. PDA), as personnel alreadyhad too much to carry. The ‘cultural awarenessscenarios’ could also be expanded to include someinformation on operational recommendations inorder to provide a more useful tool to the end user. Itis also recommended that other cultural awarenesseducation initiatives be continued in-theatre in orderto revise and refresh personnel cultural awareness– for example role-playing exercises and quizzes.Further work could involve hosting a cultural issuesworkshop for military stakeholders (e.g. DETS (A), OPTAG,DCDC, the warfare centres) and researchers, toidentify knowledge gaps, prioritise requirements, andidentify practical solutions (including non-equipmentbased) to the cultural awareness education problem.An increase in cultural awareness could not onlypotentially reduce the number of casualties andfacilitate working with the indigenous population,but could also facilitate the communication andunderstanding between the coalition partners andtheir internal organisations.ReferencesHofstede, G. (1991). Cultures and organisations:Softwares of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill.Klein, H.A. (2004). Cognition in Natural Settings: TheCultural Lens Model. In M. Kaplan (Ed.) CulturalErgonomics, Advances in Human Performance andCognitive Engineering Research, Volume 4, pp 249-280. Amsterdam: Elsevier.9

SysML for HFIAuthors: Mark Linsell and Chris VanceThe Unified Modelling Language (UML) and the SystemsModelling Language (SysML) are general purposevisual modelling languages for systems. It is importantto understand that they are not methodologies orprocesses for design; they are languages that providea suite of diagrams that enable engineers to modeldifferent structural and behavioural aspects of adesign.This project investigated the utility of SysML as a toolfor modelling Human Factors aspects of systemsdesign. The conclusions drawn, however, are equallyapplicable to UML. The approach was to use a casestudy of a hypothetical system to see if SysML couldbe applied to modelling Human Views (HV) of thatsystem. The HVs modelled were those suggested bya related HFI DTC project to complement the existingviews required by the Ministry of Defence ArchitecturalFramework (MODAF) (See Frontline 8).The case study demonstrated that SysML is a suitabletool for modelling most of the design concepts inherentin the Human Views, and the conclusion is drawn thatit can be a useful tool for HF professionals, without anymodifications being made to the language itself.on the design so that these may be considered asearly on as possible.MODAF suggests UML as a way of representing thevarious views of an Enterprise Architecture; this studyshows SysML to be equally suitable for this purpose. Itis also possible that there are benefits to the MOD inusing these languages to help specify requirementsfor industry; however, this would require DE&S staff tobe trained in the languages if taken forward.The uptake of SysML/UML by Human Factorsprofessionals will depend on the policies of theorganisations they belong to as well as those ofcustomers and suppliers. The conclusion to be drawnfrom this work is that provided there is a higher leveldemand for SysML/UML within organisations, HFprofessionals will find significant benefits in beingproficient in these languages and the tools thatsupport them.It is intended that SysML/UML should be used internallyto the consortium on engineering projects with HFinput. This work may also for example be useful to theFuture Command Head Quarters project in the nearterm.Common language – The use of UML is widespreadamongst Software and Systems Engineers and it isquite possible that SysML (which is an extension of UML)will have similar currency. HF professionals who areproficient in these languages will have a head start inunderstanding technical aspects of the architectureand how they impact Human Factors, and in ensuringthat the Human Views are effectively communicatedto the wider Engineering community.Inherent rigour - UML/SysML promotes a rigorousapproach to documenting a design. If used correctlyall terms used are well defined and controlled,and there is a high degree of integrity between thediagrams that make up the overall model. This issupported by commercially available modelling toolsand is a significant factor in promoting a commonunderstanding amongst team members.Visibility of design intent - Modelling in SysMLencourages the design to be documented in aniterative fashion, with an initial framework beingpopulated to increasingly lower levels of abstraction.HF professionals, who may otherwise be unaware ofissues that impact their areas of interest, are likely tobenefit from an early insight into the design that couldbe gained from reading and understanding a modelgenerated in UML/SysML. Conversely, by contributingto the model HF professionals can make earlydeclarations of their design intent and HF constraintsAn example SysML Activity Diagram10

Diving with the UK’s Submarine Rescue TeamAuthor: Prof Bob StoneJust five months after the HMS Tireless sea trip describedearlier in this newsletter, I found myself once againexperiencing the murky depths of the coastal watersof the UK, this time onboard the LR5 submersible, partof the UK’s Submarine Rescue System (UKSRS). Thetrip was conducted in support of another gamesbasedlearning project being undertaken to collectinformation that could be used to develop a new“serious games”-based training simulator for the futuresubmarine rescue systems.The trip was, in some respects, quite nostalgicas, back in 1982, I spent an unplanned 13 hoursonboard the LR5’s sister submersible, the LR2, inLoch Linnhe Scotland. At the time, I was conductingresearch funded by the UK’s Department of Energywith colleagues at what was the British AerospaceDynamics Group Human Factors Department (todaypart of the BAE Systems Advanced Technology Centrein Filton). Loss of the LR2 submersible’s transponder asa result of surfacing under the support ship, combinedwith some very inclement weather topside, meantthat the 3-man vessel had to remain on the bottomuntil it was safe to surface.About 3 months after that “experience” I dived in aflooded quarry in Leicestershire (Stoney Cove), thistime in a one-man submersible – the Osel Mantis– the same submersible that featured in the 1981James Bond film For Your Eyes Only – stored today ina Science Museum archive hangar near Swindon.Prof Bob Stone together with SMERAS andJames Fisher Rumic personnel during theLR5’s dive off ArranSo I should have been well prepared for the LR5 dive.Not so ... 1982 is a long time ago and, despite themind being onside, the body has not necessarilyimproved with time! I had forgotten just how smallthese submersibles actually are. Even a singlecompartment onboard HMS Tireless offered far moreroom than this vessel. It was hard to imagine that theLR5 has been designed to provide life support for 16rescued submariners and 3 crew for – worst case –anything up to 96 hours! I was accompanied on thetrip by a representative from the Submarine Escape,Rescue and Abandonment Systems (SMERAS) ProjectTeam at DE&S, Abbey Wood, and two representativesfrom James Fisher Rumic Ltd, operators of the UKSRS.The LR5 is designed to rendezvous with a disabledsubmarine, create a watertight seal between thehatch to the submarine’s escape tower and a special“skirt” on the bottom of the submersible, and thentransfer survivors to the safety of a support ship onthe surface equipped with appropriate hyperbaricfacilities. On this occasion, however, no submarinewas present (the UKSRS team often work with Dutch orNorwegian submarines, as these are easier to placeon the seabed than British SSNs). Instead, a large“mating target” – essentially a circular hatch-like plateon four legs – had been placed on the bottom of thesea in Lamlash Bay, just off the coast of the ScottishIsle of Arran.The LR5 was launched by crane from the RoyalMaritime Auxiliary Service (RMAS) vessel Salmoor, amooring and salvage platform, and spent a total of3 hours submerged. During this time, the submersibleconducted two “mock” dockings with the underwatertarget and simulated an emergency surfaceprocedure. Seated in the rear lock-out portion ofthe submersible, it was very difficult to see any of theactivities through the pilot’s acrylic viewport, althoughwe were invited forward on occasions during the 3-hour dive. In addition, just prior to launch, I was ableto clamp a small video camera to a panel withinthe LR5 pilot’s command module. Whilst most ofthe footage was too dark to discern any detailedpilot activities, once the submersible’s external lightswere switched on, just before starting an approachto the docking target, sufficient detail could be seen(certainly enough detail to reproduce appropriateexternal conditions for a games-based simulator).Earlier in the day, we were also given the opportunityto observe – and even “fly” – the Scorpio 45 remotelyoperated vehicle (ROV) system, interacting withanother target off the RMAS Salmoor’s port side. TheScorpio is an integral component of the UKSRS andis often deployed in advance of the LR5 to conductexternal inspections or even post “pods” containingemergency supplies to the crew of a disabled ordistressed submarine (DISSUB). The ROV can evenbe used independently of the LR5 as a rescue asset.For example, the Scorpio 45 successfully rescued 7crewmembers onboard the Russian Priz AS-28 rescuesubmersible by cutting through fishing nets that hadensnared the submersible whilst around a submarine11

Simulated viewing dome and external camera imagesfrom the virtual rescue submersible cockpit (submersible isapproaching the disabled submarine’s fin)detection station 190m deep off the KamchatkaPeninsula in 2005.Sometime in the near future, the UKSRS will be replacedby the new NATO Submarine Rescue System (NSRS).NSRS will deliver a rescue capability not only to thepartner nations of France, Norway and the UK but alsoto NATO in general.Virtual LR5 DemonstratorSince the LR5 dive in Scotland, Rob Guest, of theBirmingham University HFI DTC Team, has producedan early concept demonstrator to illustrate the use ofgaming technologies in the production of a simpleunderwater rendezvous and docking skills trainer.The key development challenge was to simulatenot only a view of a disabled submarine throughthe submersible viewing dome (with appropriatedistortions), but also to provide the trainee pilot withadditional views from external cameras mounted onand around the transfer “skirt” that creates the sealedpassage between the submarine and submersible.the realism beyond that of the previousVirtual Scylla demonstration.The disabled submarine model – a KiloClass vessel – was purchased from the 3Dresources website www.turbosquid.com.A 3D model of the LR5 submersible wasalready in the possession of the DTC team,provided by the original operators of theUKSRS, Rumic (prior to becoming JamesFisher Rumic), in support of a submarinesafety and rescue project undertaken forFlag Officer Submarines (FOSM) in the late1990s.In addition to these 3D models, a simplesubmersible interior has been createdto simulate the viewpoint of the pilot. Inaddition, it has been possible to simulatethe views of two cameras mountedon the external hull and transfer skirt ofthe LR5, thereby enabling the pilot to position theskirt accurately over the escape tower area of thedisabled submarine. Real-time virtual images fromthese camera locations are relayed to two displays tothe right of the pilot’s position. For the purposes of thisearly demonstrator, flying the submersible and lookingaround the cockpit area are made possible by theuse of controls provided on an Xbox gamepad.The underwater environment was based on thatcreated for another games-based learning project– the Virtual Scylla (described in a previous edition ofFrontline) – in which a 3D model of the ex-RN LeanderClass Frigate of the same name was developed inconjunction with the National Marine Aquarium inPlymouth for climate change and marine ecosystemeducational purposes. Rendered in real time usingthe Quest3D development tool, additional underwater“fogging”, lighting and particle effects (turbidity andescaping air bubbles) were created to enhanceVirtual LR5 model with underwater lighting,turbidity and bubble effectsThe rescue simulation work in progress was presentedat a NATO Submarine Escape and Rescue WorkingGroup workshop in Garmisch (SMERWG ’08; Germany),together with other ongoing submarine projects,and a project review to consider how to take thesedevelopments forward has been held with the SMERASand NSRS Project Teams at Faslane.12

The HFI DTC is working with the Defence Equipment &Support (DE&S) Human Factors Team to provide a onestopshop for HFI support to the acquisition community.The HFI Team was re-launched in December 2008following a reorganisation at DE&S and now resideswithin the Through-Life Support Directorate at MODAbbey Wood.The HFI DTC is supporting Integrated Project Teams(IPTs) and the DE&S Human Factors Team by:Helping IPTs apply HFI• Providing a ‘One-Stop Shop’ for receiving generalHFI enquiries and providing HFI advice.• Providing independent ‘how-to’ HFI technicalexpertise to IPTs across all three services.• Helping IPTs to understand and apply the HFIpolicies.• Developing in-house HFI expertise.• Using lessons identified to inform MOD HFI policyand process.• Facilitating a HFI ‘community of interest/practice’across DE&S.• Developing accessible guidance material forIPTs.• Facilitating stakeholder engagement for the widerHFI DTC research programme.• Enabling cultural change within DE&S with thegoal of integrating the people component ofcapability.• Raising awareness and promoting a pan-MODapproach to HFI.• Developing the HFI Material for the AcquisitionOperating Framework (AOF).• Providing tailored training modules to IPTs.The HFI DTC personnel deployed into the Joint HFTeam will also support the MOD’s Human CapabilityResearch programme by:• Informing and directing HFI DTC research prioritiesin response to MOD needs.• Providing an exploitation route for HFI DTC researchoutputs.• Acting as a conduit for industry and academicexpertise into the IPTs.• Hosting focused awareness-raising events.To ensure proper independence and probity, HFI DTCpersonnel will not:MOD Abbey Wood• Carry out parts of HFI project work that wouldnormally be contracted out via formal ITT.• Support IPTs on competition-sensitive aspects ofprogrammes/bids that could lead to a potential/perceived conflict of interest.The benefit of this approach is that the HFI DTCprogramme is providing the MOD with the opportunityto:• Exploit HFI DTC Subject Matter Expertise to supportIPTs in implementing HFI.••Enable earliest exploitation of research outputs.Inform & direct prioritisation of HFI researchrequirements.• Facilitate cultural change towards seamlessintegration of the people component ofcapability.Looking to the future, the HFI DTC are working with DE&Sto launch and coordinate an IPT Community of Interest/ Practice for HFI in 2009 with the goal of supportingthe development of an in-house knowledge base.This forum would be open to all IPT members with a HFIrole including IPTLs, HFI Foci, TLPM representatives, riskmanagers and those responsible for related projectdomains including training and safety.If you would like to know more about this initiative,please contact:Mr Richard Denning, DESSETLS-Rel-POPHd@mod.uk,Tel: 0117 913 5146orDr Karen Lane, karen.lane@baesystems.com,Tel: 07736 37991713

Shedding Light on our ReserachThe output of the research by the HFI DTC has led tosignifcant publications including two special issues ofpeer reviewed journals and substantive text-books.Special Edition JournalsThe special issue of Ergonomics presents researchon command and control in domains as diverse asthe emergency services, civilian applications andmilitary applications. The papers report on models ofteam performance, evaluation of novel interactiontechnologies, case studies, methodologies, andtheoretical reviews (see figure 1).The special issue of Cognition, Technology and Workdraws upon the research undertaken during the firstthree-years of operation of the HFI DTC. This editionshowcases just a few of the studies undertaken bythe HFI DTC in the areas of command and control;equipment design; through-life cost benefits of HFIand various aspects of training (see figure 2).Books (available from Ashgate Publishers)Modelling Command and Control explores thedifferences and similarities in the land, sea andair domains; the theoretical and methodologicaldevelopments, approaches to system and interfacedesign, and the workload and situation awarenessissues involved. Using extensive case study materialthe book demonstrates how the social and technicaldomains interact, and why each requires equaltreatment and importance in the future (see figure3).Human Factors Methods: A Practical Guide forEngineering and Design presents more than ninetydesign and evaluation methods, and is designed toact as an ergonomics methods manual, aiding bothstudents and practitioners. It offers a ‘how-to’ text ona substantial range of ergonomics methods that canbe used in the design and evaluation of productsand systems. It is a comprehensive point of referencefor all of these methods (see figure 4).Cognitive Work Analysis: Coping with Complexitypresents firstly a comprehensive description ofCognitive Work Analysis (CWA), in order to introduce itto the uninitiated. The book then presents a number ofapplications in complex military domains to exploreand develop the benefits of CWA. Unlike much of theprevious literature, particular attention is placed onexploring the CWA framework in its entirety (see figure5).Figure 1Figure 2Figure 3Figure 4Figure 514

HFI DTC Awarded ErgonomicsPresident’s MedalKevin Bessell, Dr David Morris, Dr Carol Mason,Prof Neville Stanton, Dr Karen Lane, LucyMitchell, Dr Georgina Fletcher,The Human Factors Integration Defence TechnologyCentre has been awarded the Ergonomics SocietyPresident’s medal for 2008. This medal is awardedannually to “an institution or organisational groupfor work that has made a significant contribution tooriginal research, the development of methodology,or application of knowledge within the field ofergonomics.”This is a fitting recognition, by professional colleaguesin the field of ergonomics and applied psychology, ofthe work of the HFI DTC consortium team members.The HFI DTC makes all of its HF tools and researchproducts freely available to other HF professionals andnon-professionals alike, subject to UK MOD approval.This dissemination of HFI knowledge has been a keyprinciple of operation of the HFI DTC.HFI DTC Consortium ProfessionalAchievementsDr Dan JenkinsDr Dan Jenkins joined the HFIDTC in April 2005 when hetook up the role of ResearchFellow at Brunel University’sErgonomics ResearchGroup. In September 2005,Dan enrolled for a parttimePhD based upon hisresearch for the HFI DTC.Dan’s research addressedthe modelling of complex sociotechnical systems forthe purposes of analysis, design and evaluation. Thethesis focuses on one particular framework, CognitiveWork Analysis. This formative, systems-based approachexplores the different constraint sets that influencethe way work can be conducted. The thesis providesadditional process to what was previously a looselydefined framework. The approach is described in thecontext of battlefield management as well as missionplanning and execution, for both theoretical and realworld settings.The content of the thesis is based heavily on a numberof HFI DTC reports authored by Dan. The uniqueopportunity to observe complex military systemsand collect data proved to be a key factor in thecompletion of the thesis.In April 2008, Dan obtained his PhD in Human Factorsand Interaction Design, receiving the ‘Hamilton Prize’for the Best Viva in the School of Engineering andDesign. Much of the work used in the thesis has alsobeen used to produce a book titled, ‘Cognitive WorkAnalysis: Coping with Complexity’. The book waspublished by Ashgate at the end of 2008.Dr Paul SalmonDr Karen Lane and Dr David Morris receivingthe President’s MedalPaul Salmon returned toBrunel University in February2006 to work as a ResearchFellow within the ErgonomicsResearch Group on the HFIDTC project. In February2006, Paul enrolled for apart-time PhD based uponhis research for the HFIDTC, which involved thedevelopment and validationof theory and measures of situation awareness forcomplex collaborative systems. The aim of the thesiswas to advance team situation awareness theoryand measurement by introducing and validating amodel of Distributed Situation Awareness (DSA) anda methodology for representing and analysing DSA15

during real world collaborative activities. The researchconducted included comprehensive literaturereviews (focussing on situation awareness theory andmeasurement), theoretical and methodologicaldevelopment and four naturalistic studies undertaken inthe civil (energy distribution) and military (multinationalwarfare and land warfare) domains. The findingsderived from the research were subsequently usedto outline a series of guidelines for the design andevaluation of collaborative systems.The content of the thesis is based heavily on the workundertaken by Paul on the HFI DTC research projectfocussing on situation awareness and command andcontrol. The unique opportunity to observe complexmilitary systems and collect data proved to be a keyfactor in the completion of the thesis.Paul obtained his PhD in Human Factors in July 2008.Much of the work used in the thesis has also beenused to produce a book titled, ‘Distributed SituationAwareness: Advances in theory, measurement andapplication to teamwork’. The book, published byAshgate, is due for release in 2009.Prof Chris BaberChris Baber was electedto Chair of Pervasive &Ubiquitous Computing atThe University of Birminghamon the 1st November 2008.In particular, Chris isinterested in the ways inwhich the increasing useof computing capability in‘everyday’ technologies ischanging the ways in whichpeople work, travel, socialise and learn. As computersspread further in our world and become increasinglynetworked, i.e., pervasive, and appear in more andmore products, i.e., ubiquitous, so our relationshipwith technology changes. Not only does this raisefundamental human factors questions of how we areto use such technologies, but also questions how weknow what the technology is doing for us and to us,how it is affecting our sense of security and privacy,and how it can be used positively and beneficially.This reflects his work on wearable computers and theirapplication to a wide range of domains. Projectshave included police, paramedic and fire serviceapplications, crime-scene investigation, personalfinance, sports, games and education applications.These projects have been variously funded by EPSRC,the European Union, and industry, e.g., Microsoft.Under the HFI DTC, he has developed wearablecomputers to support augmented reality, e.g., to trialthe Qinetiq Q-ART application at CAST in Warminster,‘smart maintenance’, e.g., linking to AerosystemsInternational E-Card application, and location-basedphotography for close target reconnaissance in the‘Smartscope’ project.He is currently exploring human interaction with sensorbasedobjects, extending the smart maintenanceconcept to collaborative activity. In addition todeveloping prototypes to test in user trials, hisresearch in the HFI DTC has explored applications ofsocial network analysis to knowledge management,sense-making and command structures (which hasalso been explored in a Competition of Ideas projectmodelling covert networks, with Daniel Howard ofQinetiQ and Professor Stanton).Prof Bob StoneAt a special ceremony in Novocherkassk, Russia, theHFI DTC’s Research Director, Bob Stone, was presentedwith a medal and specially engraved watch by Prof.Leonid Lunin – Rector (Vice Chancellor) of the SouthRussian State Technical University (SRSTU) – to celebratehis award of Diploma of Honorable Professor, whichcoincided with the 100th Anniversary of the University.Bob has been collaborating with the Russians sincethe early 1990s, when his Salford-based teamhelped Moscow’s Advanced Simulation Research &Development Centre (ASRDC) to construct a VirtualReality model of the Mir Space Station. The latesttrip to Russia coincided with the presentation, by oneof Bob’s University project students, Matt Goodwin,of a new educational game concept, designed tohelp engage schoolchildren in the study of science.The game teaches Newton’s 3 laws of motion bychallenging students to dock the Russian Kliperspaceplane concept with the International SpaceStation.Prof Bob Stone at the Celebration lunch16

Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Conference (HFES)Author: Dr Guy WalkerThe HFI DTC was represented at this conference byProf Neville Stanton, Dr Dan Jenkins and Dr Guy Walkerfrom Brunel University and Dr Robert Houghton fromThe University of Birmingham.OverviewThe Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) isthe leading US professional society in the field. HFES2008 was their 52nd annual meeting which this yeartook place in New York. The event is notable for attractinga worldwide audience and for its rigorouspeer-review acceptance process. It is a large andprestigious conference organised around 11 parallelsessions, many of which have direct relevance to theHFI DTC’s work streams.Contributions made by HFI DTC membersMembers of the HFI DTC consortium made a directcontribution to the event in the form of a workshopand three presentations. These were as follows:Workshop: Professor Neville Stanton and Dr Dan Jenkinsprovided a full day workshop entitled ‘ConductingCognitive Work Analysis: Supporting Novices andExperts with a Software Tool’. This event provided anexcellent opportunity to demonstrate and to exploitthe HFI DTC’s CWA tool. Fifteen participants signed upfor the workshop and were tutored through the entireCWA process. The workshop was rated very highly bythose who attended it, as was the tool itself (a copy ofwhich was given to every participant).Presentation: Dr Dan Jenkins delivered a presentationentitled ‘Using Work Domain Analysis to Evaluate theImpact of Digitization on Command and Control’.This paper was based on a novel approach to systemassessment based on CWA and was well received bythe audience. A number of questions were asked. Inparticular, how do good and bad system assessmentscombine at higher levels and are correlationsbetween those levels possible. It was shown that themeans-ends links embodied by work domain analysisanswer the former, and that the latter was eminentlypossible.Presentation: Dr Guy Walker delivered a presentationentitled ‘Command and Control: Hierarchies vs.Networks’. This work was based on lab studiesconducted at Brunel University that showed howsystem performance, particularly NEC, evolved overtime. The paper was accepted on the basis of itsnovel data analysis procedures and application ofsociotechnical systems theory. Despite the early start,the session was well attended and the presentationreceived good feedback (in person and subsequentlyvia email).Presentation: Dr Rob Houghton delivered apresentation entitled ‘Integrating Human Factors withSystems Engineering: Using WESTT to Design a NovelUser Interface for Incident Command Systems’. Thiswas a fascinating talk that showed how the outputs ofWESTT could provide the inputs for systems engineeringmethods. How this could be practically achieved wasdemonstrated with an emergency services case study.Once again, the presentation was of high quality andwas received well by a sizeable audience.Plenary presentaionsThe Arnold Small Lecture in Safety was delivered byCharles Perrow and was entitled ‘Software Failures,Internet Security and Microsoft’. This was an interestingan entertaining talk, delivered by an acknowledgedleader in the field. It was particularly relevantbecause of the numerous themes in complexity andorganisational design that overlapped well with issuesand concerns in NEC.Dr Perrow discussed the relationship betweencatastrophic system failures and highinterdependence, the role of emergent properties,the shortcomings of Microsoft architectures and theirpossible future role in system failures and so forth.Whilst interesting and entertaining, it is probably fairto say that in terms of technical content there wascomparatively little that was new, at least in terms ofthe HFI DTC’s understanding of Human Factors whichalready confronts such topics as complexity, systemstheory and distributed cognition.Dr Dan Jenkins giving his presentation17

Parallel SessionsGiven the enormous range of topic areas availablea high degree of focus was required. As such, thosesessions relevant to the HFI DTC were actively attendedand, of those, the following illustrate the general tenorand content of the event:Kuhl presented ‘United we stand: using multipletools to solve a multidimensional problem’. This wasinteresting in view of EAST (and WESTT’s) ability to dothe same, combined with the fact that this was anaward winning paper. In this case, a number ofhuman simulation approaches were combined ininteresting ways in order to provide a variety of systemdesign interventions at different levels (individuals,teams, equipment design etc.). I did question thedeterministic modelling assumptions and askedwhether the model bore relation to reality: this had notbeen checked, rather, the approach was designedso that these issues could at least be captured forfuture design iterations.There were two main Cognitive Work Analysis sessions,each featuring five separate presentations. Thesepresentations varied somewhat in quality, many werecompetent and interesting, but a disappointing trendwas noted. CWA, particularly WDA, was in a numberof cases being used and modified in ways that werenot appropriate. There were also instances of themethod being applied incorrectly and evidence offundamental misunderstandings (which often wentunquestioned). A worrying trend is that CWA seemsto be subject to a growing degree of inappropriatesimplification. Whilst practically expedient, there canbe no getting around the fact that simplified modelsgive rise to simple minded, if not completely incorrectresults.Strater et al. presented ‘Situation awareness andcollaborative tool usage in ad hoc command andcontrol teams’. Prof. Stanton took issue with theforceful assertion that ‘SA is something that only residesin people’s heads’, pointing out that this ignoresthe extensive and varied literature on distributedcognition, actor network theory, joint cognitive systemsand so on. This debate represents something of afundamental split in the approach to SA adoptedby the mainstream and that reflected in the HFIDTC, not to mention the wider literature. Based onthe dominance of the three level model of SA at thisevent, this remains a contentious area of debate.acknowledge, was that it was of a cross sectionaldesign and therefore wasn’t able to consider theevolutionary aspects of NEC; a competent papernonetheless. A mutual interest in sociotechnicalsystems theory was discussed and I have sent anumber of published articles that reflect the DTC’slong standing work in this area.Overall ImpressionsEvents such as these enable the work of the HFI DTCto be subject to peer scrutiny, and having passedthat test, to be placed in an international context.There is no doubt that the work of the consortiumshows genuine innovation and creativity. Indeed, inmany cases it stood out from what was often a ratherstaid, conventional, heavily experimental approachto HF. In contrast, the focus on ‘systems’, conceptssuch as complexity, sociotechnical theory, the use ofconcepts and metaphors from alternative domains,all combined with a heavily practical approach usingnovel software tools, favourably differentiated thebody of work presented by the DTC. It is interestingto note further, especially given the topic of CharlesPerrow’s plenary presentation, the two sessionsdevoted to CWA and the myriad presentations onissues related to systems and complexity, that the HFdomain is shifting much more in this direction. It is,therefore, reassuring to note that the consortium isoperating very much in the forefront of this trend.ReferencesKuhl, D. M. (2008) United we stand: using multiple toolsto solve a multi-dimensional problem. Proceedingsof the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 52ndAnnual Meeting. New York.Strater, L. D., Cuevas, H., Connors, E. S., Unqvarsky,D. & Endsley, M. R. (2008) Situation awareness andcollaborative tool usage in ad hoc command-andcontrolteams. Proceedings of the Human Factorsand Ergonomics Society 52nd Annual Meeting. NewYork.Futher information on the 52nd HFES annual meetingcan be found at the following address:www.hfes.org/web/hfesmeetings/08annualmeeting.htmlFinally, a presentation entitled ‘Self-synchronization innetworked teams’ was presented by Bart van Bezooijenfrom TNO. This was an interesting presentation thatoverlapped with the DTC’s research interests verywell. A limitation of the study, that the author did18

Meet The TeamRobin Morrison is the HFI DTC Operations Manager at Aerosystems International. Robin hasbeen working in the defence industry since graduating from Surrey University in 1983 withan MSc in Physics. Robin has progressed from software engineering through to projectmanagement while at AeI. He started at BAE Dynamics Group in Filton working with theTest and Evaluation team on the Sea Wolf, Sea Dart and Rapier missile defence systems.During this time, Robin was part of the team that developed a portable computer basedmissile performance analysis station that was used successfully onboard Type 22 frigates.In 1990, after 7 very enjoyable years, Robin moved to Marconi at Templecombe and wasone of the software engineers working on the Type 2093 sonar fitted to the Hunt class ships ofthe Royal Navy.In 1995, Robin joined Aerosystems International being initially involved in software development for front lineRAF aircraft. More recently and drawing on his years of experience Robin has being managing a number ofprojects at AeI. These have ranged from complex Health and Usage Monitoring Systems for RN/RAF Helicoptersthrough to a software product designed to test Data Link applications. Before joining the HFI DTC in 2007,Robin was the Support Manager at AeI for the Tactical Data Links Group, which required liaising with some 20customers on a world wide basis and ensuring that problems or suggestions reported were investigated, fixedand tested, and solutions delivered back to the customer.Steve Harmer recently joined MBDA UK as Head of Human Factors. After graduating fromPortsmouth Polytechnic in 1986 with a degree in Production Engineering, he went on togain an MSc in Work Design and Ergonomics from Birmingham University before joiningBAE Military Aircraft Division in 1987. Steve worked as a Human Factors Engineer onSea Harrier FA2, Tornado ADV, Hawk 100/200 and Nimrod MRA4. He joined the BAESystems Advanced Technology Centre in 1994 where he continued to support companyprojects across all military services, covering a wide spectrum of HF activities from HFImanagement to human performance assessment. In addition he was involved in a rangeof research activities including the development of decision-support aids to counter terrorismthreats to civilian aircraft, novel HCI technologies for military and civil flightdecks and operator involvement ineffects-based operations.Steve was Chair of the pan-BAE Systems HFI Special Interest Group for 7 years before joining MBDA UK.Dr Georgina Fletcher is the Human Factors Business Manager at SEA and project managerof their HFI DTC work. With a background in psychology and ergonomics, she has over13 years experience in developing, conducting and managing Human Factors projectsin both research and consultancy environments.She started her career in the DERA in Farnborough working on a number European fundedaviation safety projects looking at training and simulation, automation, system design andcrew resource management. She was also involved in supporting military projects includingexploring transfer of lessons learned in civil aviation to the military domain with respect to COTS procurements.She then moved to the University of Aberdeen as a Research Fellow, where, working with Scottish ClinicalSimulation Centre, she developed a behavioural marker system for assessing anaesthetists’ non-technicalskills such as decision making, situation awareness and team working. This work is the subject of her PhD. Shethen worked at the National Patient Safety Agency where she was involved in developing solutions to improvethe safety of healthcare system design and operation. Whist taking time out to complete her PhD, Georginaworked as a freelance consultant supporting a team skills development programme in the oil industry.In summer 2007, she moved to SEA and since joining the HFI DTC has become particularly involved in workdeveloping guidance for the HFI Social and Organisational domain.19

The Director’s CutWelcome to Edition 9 of Frontline, the first issue since Itook over as HFI DTC Director in March. Stepping intothe shoes of my predecessor, Dr David Morris, hasbeen an enormous challenge. It is fair to say that priorto David’s retirement, there was no queue to takeon the impending vacant post – after all who wouldwant to take on a role which David had performedso well? His leadership characteristics were second tonone and he did an extraordinary job in navigatingthe HFI DTC consortium through contract awardand into the first five years of delivering high qualityresearch. David retired in February, having converteda large number of colleagues, in both AeI and the HFIDTC, into friends. We marked David’s departure witha great celebration evening at Thornbury Castle inBristol which was attended by friends from across theMOD & the consortium (see separate article on pg. 2of this edition).Having been in the Director role for some nine monthsnow I am excited about the challenges that lie ahead.Having worked with David for the past ten years, I amhoping that some of his inspirational leadership andteam-building qualities have rubbed off! As can beseen from the contents of this newsletter and fromour 2008 Yearbook (available for download at http://www.hfidtc.com/), the team has had another verybusy year out in the field capturing data about thechallenges being encountered at the front line ofoperations and acquisition, and developing solutionsto those challenges.The quality of the research being undertaken by theteam was recognised with the award of the 2008Ergonomics Society President’s medal. This medal isawarded annually to “an institution or organisationalgroup for work that has made a significantcontribution to original research, the development ofmethodology, or application of knowledge within thefield of ergonomics”. An even bigger accolade for theteam, however, is the positive feedback we continueto receive from our defence-wide stakeholderswho recognise the usefulness and relevance of theresearch being undertaken.The MOD has further recognised the value of theoutputs from the programme by recently expressing anintent to extend the HFI DTC contract into a third phase.This is very good news for the team and we are nowbusy refining the technical detail of our programmefor 2009 and 2010. The programme continues to befocused on our defence-wide stakeholders, targetingboth the acquisition community and the users in theFront Line Commands. From a strategic perspective,the programme is aligned with the Human Capabilityresearch & development objectives within MOD’sDefence Technology Plan. The programme will alsocontinue to retain a reactive element to allow theteam to be able to respond to emerging researchrequirements and to provide rapid, focused responsesto “short-notice” taskings.In order to ensure that the outputs of the researchprogramme are disseminated to the widest possibleaudience, we will continue to host awareness raisingevents throughout the next phase of our programme.Our HFI Symposium, for example, to be held at AbbeyWood on March 04, 2009, will be open to all ourstakeholders.Dr Karen Lane, HFI DTC DirectorProf R J StoneResearch DirectorTel: +44 (0) 121 414 7395Fax: +44 (0) 121 414 4291Mob: +44 (0) 7740 858901Email: r.j.stone@bham.ac.ukURL: www.hfidtc.comDr Karen P LaneHFI DTC DirectorTel: +44 (0) 1935 445324Fax: +44 (0) 1935 443111Mob: +44 (0) 7736 379917Email: karen.lane@baesystems.comURL: www.hfidtc.comDisclaimer:Any views expressed are those of the editors and the individual contributors and do not necessarily represent those of the UK MOD20Copyright © Aerosystems International Ltd