HUMAN FACTOR DESIGN IN UK DEFENCE
9. ANNEX B – HERE IS A USEFUL CHECKLIST TO REVEAL POTENTIAL HF
All systems or products can be:
Specified by people Researched by people Used by people Interrogated by people Abused by people
Damaged by people Relied on by people Made by people Assembled by people Moved by people
Bought by people Stored by people
Designed by people Installed by people Inspected by people Looked at by people
Commissioned by people Maintained by people
Adjusted by people Modified by people Replaced by people Removed by people Destroyed by people Painted by people
Appreciated by people!
Have you considered all of these use cases?
MANNING ORIENTATED DESIGN IN THE NETHERLANDS
W M Post, TNO Human Factors, Netherlands SUMMARY
All navies, when taking initiative to build a new platform, have difficulties with determining in an early phase the number of people that are needed to sail the planned ship. How do you approach this problem? How can you reduce the complexity of it? How do you reach a cost-effective solution? How do you coordinate all the stakeholders and experts involved in this process?
At TNO, we have reflected on a dozen of human centred design projects for the Dutch Defence Materiel Organization (DMO). We have unified many years of developed knowledge, methodologies and tools in one Manning Centred Design framework, aimed at reducing the complexity of such design problems, managing the risks involved, and capturing the applied knowledge and experiences for later use. In this paper, the framework will be explained and illustrated by two projects: the development of the Offshore Patrol Vessel and the Submarine Life Extension Program.
1. INTRODUCTION
The Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN), and since 2005, the Dutch Defence Materiel Organization (DMO), have extensively applied Human Factors knowledge in the development of almost all their navy platforms in the past four decades. This knowledge application hasn’t been restricted to ship design. Human Factors research has contributed also in addressing new generic design issues, by developing new knowledge, tools and methodologies to manage these issues. Fig. 1 shows a dozen of RNLN platforms, developed since 1970, together with new Human Factors developments.
The RNLN/DMO usually asks the Dutch research organization TNO to support them with this work. For example, forty years ago, design focused on issues such as usability and reliability. As a reaction, we at TNO started new research on subjects such as ergonomics (i.e., norms) and human centred design (i.e., design theory).
And we developed new design tools and techniques such as mock-ups and how to use them to evaluate the usability and reliability of design solutions. Through ongoing reflection on our design approach, further development of our human factors knowledge base, and expansion of our facilities, our approach has become better each design project.
Design Issues
Design Design
Knowledge Tools & Techniques Adaptieve
Crews + Manning Reduction
+ Human Centered
Design +
Ergonomics
1980 1990 2000 2010
1970
WalrusClass
Multipurpose-frigate
Hydrography Platform
Air Defence & Command Frigate
Landing Platform Dock 2 Patrol Vessel Joint Support Ship
GW/S/L-frigates
Upkeep AlkmaarClass
Upkeep WalrusClass
Task Analysis and Job Design
Manning Centered Design
Full Mock-ups
Virtual environments
Human Systems Integration
Graphical Link Analysis
Simulation models
2010
CAD
Co-Creation
Design Products
Figure 1: Recent history of human factors design for the RNLN / DMO.
In the Seventies, Eighties and early Nineties, there was a development from full 1:1 scale wooden mockups, via the introduction of 3D design tools such as CAD (Computer Aided Design) to Virtual Environment, and even hybrid environments (the integration of tactile immersion of a wooden mockup and visual immersion in Virtual Environment) in the mid Nineties. Major design issues shifted from reliability and usability of the design concepts to the reduction of speed and cost of the design process, among others related to time consumption and inflexibility of wooden mockups. Fig. 2 shows the mockup of the Walrus Class Command Center and how it has been realized; Fig. 3 shows the ADC Frigate Command Center and mockup and how it is realized.
Fig 2: Command center of the Walrus Class Submarine.
Upper picture, the 1:1 scale wooden mockup, in 1980.
Lower picture, how it is currently operational.
In the Nineties, new tools and techniques such as the Human Systems Integration approach, and Tasks Analysis and Job Design techniques were introduced, as well as simulation models for crew performance. This was due to a shift of focus to complexity and risk management, which required more knowledge on how to reduce manning in a well-founded way. The Hydrographic Vessel and the Alkmaar Class manning reduction are one of the example projects at that time.
In the past decade, we started applying digital manikins, to assess the human perspective in an early phase, for example during designing the Joint Operations Room of the Landing Platform Dock II "Johan de Witt"(see fig. 4).
Fig 3: The command center of the Air Defence &
Command Frigate. Upper picture, the 1:1 scale wooden mockup under evaluation, in 1997. Lower picture, how it has been realized.
Fig 4: Joint Operations Room of Landing Platform Dock II. Upper picture: digital manikins. Lower picture, the 1:1 scale wooden mockup. It has been realized accordingly.
Missions
Scenario's Functions
Operational contexts
Organizational Structures
Systems Tasks & Work
processes
Architectures Design
Choices Requirements
Effectiveness Investments and life cycle costs
Strategic Ambition
Workspaces
Work stations Collaborative
relations
Manning
Design Choices
Role Plan
Summarized, through the past decades, we have been continuously extending and improving this design knowledge, methodologies and tools. As must be clear from the number of platforms and research programs we have been involved in, TNO maintains a strong customer intimacy with the RNLN and DMO. Four decades of involvement has resulted in a comprehensive design approach with a number of essential features. First of all, our approach is systematic, integral and iterative, and includes four basic phases: functional specification, conceptual design and detailed design. Second, we follow a collaborative design approach: in a rather small project team, involving operational users, (weapon) technical experts, platform designers and logistics experts, we maintain an open, cohesive atmosphere for creativity as well as efficacy, with a minimum of overhead and a maximum of shared project awareness.
Third, we contribute our own expertise: a wide spectrum of high quality human factors knowledge. And fourth, we effectively and efficiently facilitate design and evaluation with an extensive set of techniques and tools.