Human Factors Criteria for Displays: A Human Factors Design Standard Update of Chapter 5

This document contains updates and expands the design criteria and information on displays from the Human Factors Design Standard. A research team of human factors experts evaluated the existing guidelines for relevancy, clarity, and usability. They drafted new guidelines as necessary based on relevant sources, and they reorganized the document to increase usability. This resulted in extensive changes to the original document including the addition of new guidelines, sources, and topic areas

Visual Coding of Status for Technical Operations Systems

In order to monitor and control over 30,000 different services and equipment, Technical Operations (TO) specialists must be provided with clear and consistent methods for recognizing status quickly. Without specific guidance on status coding, each new system must come up with a strategy for conveying status information, leading to coding that is inconsistent with other systems and often inconsistent with human factors best practices. The purpose of this document is to promote consistency in the coding of status information used for monitoring and control at TO Service Operations Centers. This report defines the various terms used for status related events in TO, describes the TO work environment, describes current information displays used by TO, and explains how to use screen real estate to enhance user performance. This document also describes the various methods used to code status and provides explicit recommendations based on Human Factors best practices. If the course of action described in this report is successful, it will promote consistency in the coding of status information across systems. This can reduce the time needed to identify and react to a potential problem, minimizing the potential for outages and decreasing the impact of outages that do occur

Optimal Design of Event Lists (ODELS) Phase 1: Does List Format Facilitate Visual Search for Information?

This report documents the first in a series of studies on the optimal design of event lists (ODELs) for Technical Operations use. The ODELs study described in this report examines whether event list format has an impact on user performance when searching for information. The stimuli consisted of four different list formats: delineated, non-delineated, ledger shading, and white text on a blue background. These formats represented list formats currently in existence in the operational environment. Researchers measured task completion time, accuracy, and eye-scanning metrics such as number of fixations, fixation duration, blink frequency, pupil diameter, and number of reversals. Additionally, researchers collected subjective ratings of difficulty and preference rankings for each of the four conditions. The results indicated that the list design did not have a significant impact on task completion time or the number or duration of fixations. However, list design did appear to impact the error rate, subjective ratings of difficulty, and user preference. Participants made fewer errors in the ledger shading and delineated conditions, rated them as less difficult, and ranked them as most preferred

Human Factors Design Standard for Acquisition of Commercial-off-the-Shelf Subsystems, Non-Developmental Items, and Developmental Systems

The Human Factors Design Standard (HFDS) provides reference information to assist in the selection, analysis, design, development, and evaluation of new and modified Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) systems and equipment. This document is based largely on the 1996 Human Factors Design Guide (HFDG) produced by the FAA in 1996. It converts the original guidelines document to a standard and incorporates updated information, including the newly revised chapters on automation and human-computer interface. The updated document includes extensive reorganization of material based on user feedback on how the document has been used in the past. Additional information has been also been added to help the users better understand tradeoffs involved with specific design criteria. This standard covers a broad range of human factors topics that pertain to automation, maintenance, displays and printers, controls and visual indicators, alarms, alerts and voice output, input devices, workplace design, system security, safety, the environment, and anthropometry documentation. This document also includes extensive human-computer interface information

Scale Size of the Air Traffic Workload input Technique (ATWIT): A Review of Research

Objective: This paper uses a review of previous studies to provide a recommendation for the optimal scale size of the Air Traffic Workload Input Technique (ATWIT). Background: The ATWIT is a measure of workload that was originally a 10-point scale, but subsequent research includes a 7-point variation of this scale. Scale size is known to impact assessment reliability, and more reliable scales produce stronger effect sizes and reduce costs that are associated with experimentation. Therefore, it is important to know whether the 7-point or 10-point version of the scale is more reliable. Method: The authors conducted a preliminary meta-analysis of 15 studies. The analysis examined correlations between ratings using the ATWIT and aircraft count (an objective measure of difficulty) to compare effect sizes across studies with a 7-point scale and a 10-point scale. Results: Findings indicated that the strength of the correlation between ATWIT ratings and aircraft count was greater for the 10-point version of the ATWIT than for the 7-point version. Conclusion: The 10-point scale appears to be more appropriate for the ATWIT than the 7-point scale. The authors recommend that researchers use a 10-point for the ATWIT, unless they have clear justification for deviating from this convention. The authors recommend further research to examine and control for the effects of potential confounds

The Password Survival Guide : A User-Friendly Resource for Technical Operations

With security becoming increasingly important, users may be faced with 50 or more passwords. Human memory can store only limited amounts of information and can be overloaded by too many passwords. This guide is intended to help password users cope with the increasing number and complexity of passwords by providing strategies for reducing the memory load without compromising password complexity. We developed this document based on field research with Technical Operations personnel. The material is presented in a graphical cartoon format along with limited text narrative. The goal is to provide a number of easy-to-use strategies in a format that would motivate Technical Operations personnel to read it. The ideas covered are addressed to Technical Operations, but in many cases transcend Technical Operations and apply to passwords in general

Information Requirements Analysis for Remote Maintenance Monitoring Interfaces

In this paper, we identify user requirements for Remote Maintenance Monitoring (RMM) and identify high-level RMM tasks based on the Cognitive Task Analysis results. RMM is a primary means of maintaining the National Airspace System. Technical Operations Specialists have specific information that they need to see to do their jobs effectively and efficiently when using RRM systems. Thus, Technical Operations Specialists requested an evaluation of information requirements for RMM systems. Human Factors Researchers collected data from Technical Operations Specialists at four facilities. Twelve participants performed think-aloud exercises and cognitive walk-through exercises, and 28 participants completed a survey. The resulting data led to a Cognitive Task Analysis list of tasks and 29 recommendations regarding information requirements, including ways to better tailor the amount and form of presented information to better meet the needs of the user and the organization. For RMM to be an effective tool for performing maintenance, the RMM system must have an effective user interface. When asked what they would change about the RMM system, specialists responded (a) that they would like RMM to be quicker (i.e., closer to real time), (b) that they would like to have default settings that would let each user pick which sites and units to monitor, and (c) that they would like to remove or reduce the number of false alarms that occur

Human Factors Guidance for the Use of Handheld, Portable, and Wearable Computing Devices

This report provides human factors guidance for the selection and use of handheld, portable, and wearable computing devices, including personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet computers, and, to a more limited extent, head-mounted display systems. These devices are becoming more common in the workplace. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) wanted to know if these devices would be beneficial to maintenance specialists. Human factors researchers from the William J. Hughes Technical Center were asked to identify the advantages and disadvantages of these devices. These systems require different usage guidelines than standard desktop computing systems because of their size, portability, human-computer interface (HCI) designs, and intended work environments. In this report, we discuss differences between different maintenance tasks and how these differences may affect the selection of an appropriate device. We summarize the advantages and disadvantages of common handheld, portable, and wearable systems, specifically focusing on areas such as device size, screen size and resolution, input method, one- or two-handed operation, and headsdown time

Factors Affecting the Communication of Status Information Between Technical Operations and Air Traffic Personnel

The purpose of this study is to identify and assess ways to improve communication of system status between two key groups within the Federal Aviation Administration: Technical Operations and Air Traffic. To accomplish this goal, researchers employed qualitative measures to examine a number of elements related to how these two groups communicate system status, including information needs and methods of information transfer. Three major processes emerged that related to the communication of system status: coordination, information transfer, and logging. The information needs and methods used for each process are different. We present some common complications that may arise during communication of system status between the two groups as well as some conditions for successful communication. This study highlights the importance of a shared situational awareness for effective communication and identifies several potential strategies for facilitating effective communication between Technical Operations and Air Traffic personnel

Symbol Standardization in Airway Facilities

The purpose of this project was to develop and evaluate visual symbols for future Airway Facilities (AF) systems. A research team designed symbols, developed test software, and evaluated test procedures. A subsequent field evaluation of these symbols resulted in user assessment of two alternative visual symbols for 32 AF facilities and services. Two groups of 14 AF field subjects learned and evaluated alternative symbols. The report provides sufficient data to show the quality differences between the various symbols as judged by the user community. This report provides a recommended set of AF facility/service symbols for standardized use