The Federal Aviation Administration Acquisition System Toolset

GUIDANCE

Toolsets/ Human Factors

Chapter 1: FAA Human Factors Process Overview

PURPOSE	This chapter defines human factors in the context of the total system concept in which the operator, maintainer, and operating environment are integral components of the system. When human factors is applied early in the lifecycle acquisition management process, it enhances the probability of increased performance, safety, and productivity; decreased lifecycle staffing and training costs; and becomes well-integrated into the program's strategy, planning, cost and schedule baselines, and technical trade-offs. Changes in operational, maintenance or design concepts during the later phases of an acquisition are expensive and entail high risk program adjustments. Identifying lifecycle costs and human performance components of system operation and maintenance during investment analysis and requirements definition decreases program risks and long-term operations costs. These benefits are applicable to commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) and nondevelopmental items (NDI) as well as to developmental programs.
TIMING	Efforts to manage the human factors program, establish requirements, conduct system integration, and test and evaluate human factors compliance must be integral with the acquisition process. This integration is shown in the Human Factors in the FAA Lifecycle Acquisition Management Process flowchart in Appendix E.
DEFINITION OF HUMAN FACTORS	Human factors is a multidisciplinary effort to generate and compile information about human capabilities and limitations and apply that information to:
	- Equipment - Systems - Software - Facilities - Procedures	- Jobs - Environments - Training - Staffing - Personnel management
	to produce safe, comfortable, effective human performance (Figure 1-1).

THE TOTAL SYSTEM CONCEPT	Experience has proven that when people think of acquiring a system, they tend to focus on the hardware and the software that is being purchased. Individuals often fail to visualize that the hardware/software will be operated and maintained by people. These people will have different aptitudes, abilities, and training and will operate the system under various operating conditions, organizational structures, procedures, equipment configurations, and work scenarios. The total composite of these elements and the human component will determine the performance, safety, and efficiency of the system in the National Airspace System (NAS).
	Figure 1-1. Definition of human factors.
	To produce an effective human factors program for any acquisition, the definition of the system should include not only the hardware, software, facility, and services, but also the users (operators and maintainers) and the environment in which the acquisition is employed (Figure 1-2). [For the purpose of this document, the term user refers to the personnel that operate equipment to perform NAS tasks and operations (operators) as well as those expected to support the system throughout its lifecycle (maintainers). The term customer refers to NAS customers.]
	Figure 1-2. Users as part of the system.
TOTAL SYSTEM PERFORMANCE	A Total System Performance equation is presented in Figure 1-3. The probability that the total system will perform correctly, when it is available, is the probability that the hardware/ software will perform correctly, times the probability that the operating environment will not degrade the system operation, times the probability that the user will perform correctly.
	By defining total system this way, human performance is calculated as a component of the hardware and software system. A system can operate perfectly from an engineering sense in a laboratory or at a demonstration site and then not perform well when it is operated by the operators and maintainers at a field location. Figure 1-3. Calculation of total system performance. By increasing the probability that the operator can perform the task effectively in the appropriate environment the Total System Performance will increase significantly.

APPLICATION OF HUMAN FACTORS

INCREASES

PERFORMANCE, LOWERS COST

Four variables commonly having a significant impact on total system performance (Figure 1-4) are:

- Equipment/Software design

- Environment

- Staffing and Training

- Procedures.

Figure 1-4. Variables in total system performance.

Since these dynamic variables interact with each other, trade-off decisions are required to optimize operational system performance.

Hardware and software design affects both the accuracy of operator task performance and the amount of time required for each task. Applying human factors principles to equipment design will increase performance accuracy and will decrease performance time. Research has shown that designing the system to improve human perform-ance is the most cost-effective solutionē especially if it is done early in the acquisition process.

EARLY APPLICATION OF HUMAN FACTORS In the early phases of system design or development, functions are allocated to hardware, software, or people (or they can be shared). For system and software acquisitions (especially NDI/COTS), a market survey is conducted to reveal what and how candidate systems and software have already made these functional allocations in ways that do or do not enhance total system performance. Identifying human-system performance sensitivities associated with competing vendors/designs lowers technical risks and lifecycle costs (research, engineering, and development; acquisition; and operations over the economic life of the system). Since operations costs are often much greater than the costs for research, engineering, development and acquisition, early assessment of lifecycle costs has significant benefit to the total program cost.

Early decisions made with little regard to operator capabilities and limitations are likely to result in expensive training, staffing, or re-design solutions (Figure 1-5).

By focusing on the total system, the performance of the user is enhanced, thereby increasing the performance of the system (in its operational setting, using typical operators and maintainers). If, in the previous example, the probability that the user correctly performs the task increases from .9 to .99, total system performance will increase from .89 to .98 (Figure 1-6).

Figure 1-5. High cost solutions.

Figure 1-6. Focusing on the user enhances total system performance.

The early development and application of a human factors program is an important key to system cost and risk reduction (Figure 1-7). Most lifecycle costs are determined by decisions made during the Investment Analysis and Solution Implementation phases of the acquisition process.

Figure 1-7. Timing of lifecycle costs.

Human factors issues need to be identified and addressed early in the acquisition process. Doing so helps detect and resolve potential performance problems at the lowest cost (Figure 1-8).

"HOW TO"
Figure 1-8. Benefits from up-front planning.

Human factors is a multidisciplinary effort to generate, compile, and apply information about human capabilities and limitations.

Human factors professionals can assist in applying human factors information related to human resources management, training, safety, medical, and human engineering.

The human factors process consists of four management actions:

- Manage the human factors program

- Establish human factors requirements

- Conduct human factors system integration

- Conduct human factors test and evaluation

The human factors functions are integrated within the acquisition process as shown in the following table. An enlarged version of this table is shown in Appendix E (Human Factors in the FAA Lifecycle Acquisition Management Process flowchart). Each function is addressed in the chapters identified in the Job Aid.