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

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