Kirsten Revell

Digitising Command and Control: A Human Factors and Ergonomics Analysis of Mission Planning and Battlespace Management

This book presents a human factors and ergonomics evaluation of a digital Mission Planning and Battle-space Management (MP/BM) system. An emphasis was placed on the activities at the Brigade (Bde) and the Battle Group (BG) headquarters (HQ) levels. The analysts distributed their time evenly between these two locations. The human factors team from Brunel University, as part of the HFI DTC, undertook a multi-faceted approach to the investigation, including: - observation of people using the traditional analogue MP/BM processes in the course of their work - cognitive work analysis of the digital MP/BM system - analysis of the tasks and goal structure required by the digital MP/BM - assessment against a usability questionnaire - analysis of the distributed situation awareness - an environmental survey. The book concludes with a summary of the research projects findings and offers many valuable insights. For example, the recommendations for short-term improvements in the current generation of digital MP/BM system address general design improvements, user-interface design improvements, hardware improvements, infrastructure improvements and support improvements. In looking forward to the next generation digital MP/BM systems, general human factors design principles are presented and human factors issues in digitising mission planning are considered.

Models of models: filtering and bias rings in depiction of knowledge structures and their implications for design

Mental models are poorly specified in three ways: in their defining criteria, their source and the bias to which they have been subjected. Literature from psychology, HCI and human factors sources was reviewed to determine the utility of ‘mental models’ as a design tool. The definitions and theories offered by key contributors to the notion of mental models were compared. Schematics, representing both the knowledge structures proposed in cognitive processing, as well as the layers of bias evident when forming or accessing mental models, were constructed. Fundamental similarities and differences in the use of this notion, as well as ambiguities in definition, were highlighted graphically. The need for specificity in the use of mental models was emphasised as essential for pragmatic application in design. The use of graphical comparison was proposed as a means of identifying the risk of bias and a means to categorise approaches to mental model research. Practitioner Summary: Mental models are considered significant in user centred design. To apply this notion pragmatically, its definition and methods of construction and access need to be sufficiently specified. This article offers a graphical method to compare existing research in mental models, highlighting similarities, differences and ambiguities.

When energy saving advice leads to more, rather than less, consumption

Energy saving technology that relies on behaviour change fails to deliver on its promise. Energy saving advice also has limited effect. This paper examines and reveals how technology and energy saving advice interacts with householders’ thought processes to influence energy consumption. A case study of three households that held a ‘Feedback’ mental model of the home heating thermostat, as defined by Kempton [1986. ‘Two Theories of Home Heat Control’. Cognitive Science 10 (1): 75–90], was undertaken to understand the driver behind differences in their home heating strategies, and the effect on energy consumption. Analysis was undertaken from five different data sources comprising: (1) boiler on durations, (2) thermostat set point adjustments, (3) self-reported strategies with home heating controls, (4) user mental model descriptions of the home heating system, and (5) Interview transcripts. The authors found that differences in user mental models of home heating at the system level explained differences in the strategies chosen at the control device level. Differences in boiler on periods were found to relate to limitations of the ‘Feedback’ mental model; that is, the model fails to consider the effect of the movement of warm air within the home and the impact of internal/external temperature differentials on heat loss rates. The authors argue that technology and advice should be tailored to the thought processes adopted by householders in order to promote behaviour that would realise intended energy savings.

Combining network analysis with Cognitive Work Analysis: insights into social organisational and cooperation analysis.

Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) allows complex, sociotechnical systems to be explored in terms of their potential configurations. However, CWA does not explicitly analyse the manner in which person-to-person communication is performed in these configurations. Consequently, the combination of CWA with Social Network Analysis provides a means by which CWA output can be analysed to consider communication structure. The approach is illustrated through a case study of a military planning team. The case study shows how actor-to-actor and actor-to-function mapping can be analysed, in terms of centrality, to produce metrics of system structure under different operating conditions. Practitioner Summary: In this paper, a technique for building social network diagrams from CWA is demonstrated. The approach allows analysts to appreciate the potential impact of organisational structure on a command system.

Distributed Decision Making in Multihelicopter Teams: Case Study of Mission Planning and Execution from a Noncombatant Evacuation Operation Training Scenario

This article presents a naturalistic case study of distributed decision making across military helicopter crews during mission planning and execution scenarios. The aim of the paper was to model the decision making strategies and examine the extent to which the environment supports the helicopter crews. This involved live observation of the crews of five Royal Air Force helicopters as they planned and executed a series of missions in a simulated operational setting as part of their predeployment training. The study revealed that there were differences in the decision-making strategies in colocated and distributed teams. It also showed that colocated teams were more able to resolve information conflicts than were the distributed teams. These findings suggest that the concept of the “death of distance” (i.e., that information and communications technology can overcome the negative effects of distributed teams) is somewhat overstated.

Change the Mental Model, Change the Behavior: Using Interface Design to Promote Appropriate Energy Consuming Behavior in the Home

This paper considers how designs of typical home heating systems fall short in the way they communicate their function to householders, and offers a ‘mental models’ approach to design as an alternative. Revell and Stanton (Appl Ergon 45:363–378, 2014, [13]) identified that inappropriate mental models of heating controls influenced users’ behavior strategies to conserve energy. Domestic energy accounts for approximately 30 % of UK consumption, and 60 % of this is as a result of space heating (DECC 2013). Previous work by the authors’ drives the focus of design changes at both the device and system level. Guidelines by Manketelow and Jones (Applying cognitive psychology to user-interface design. Chichester: Wiley, 83–117, 1987, [11]) and Norman (The Design of Everyday Things, Basic Books, New York, 2002, [8]) are used to understand how existing devices may unintentionally ‘say the wrong thing’ and improve functional communication in the redesign. Feedback from a pilot study using a simulator to demonstrate the resulting ‘control panel style’ of heating operation is also provided.

The Quick Association Check (QuACk): a resource-light, ‘bias robust’ method for exploring the relationship between mental models and behaviour patterns with home heating systems

ABSTRACT Easy-to-apply methods, allowing exploration of users’ mental models and behaviour with devices, are scarce. Existing methods can be resource-intensive, or fail to mitigate bias, threatening output validity. This paper describes the development of the Quick Association Check (QuACk) and highlights the methodological improvements following qualitative iterations. QuACk is a semi-structured interview with paper-based activities and templates, constructed with consideration of bias from the outset, offering a quick, resource light method to explore association between householders’ heating mental models and behaviour patterns. Through qualitative iterations of the method, key revisions identified the need to: (1) strongly emphasise positioning, guidance and structure; (2) re-categorise existing ‘shared models’ in the literature as ‘device generic’, rather than ‘thermostat specific’ during data interpretation and (3) consider an association at the system level, rather than the device level. The potential to apply the findings of QuACk to energy-reducing strategies is discussed, and generalisability considered.

Mental model interface design: putting users in control of home heating

ABSTRACT Occupant behaviour is a key variable affecting the amount of energy used in homes. The understanding, interface and interaction with heating controls hold the potential to influence how heating is operated and, in turn, how much energy is consumed. A study is presented to test a series of hypotheses that the design of the home-heating interface can positively influence the achievement of home-heating goals, if it is specifically designed to communicate a user mental model (UMM) of how the system functions. This would encourage appropriate inhabitant behaviour. The experiment involved 20 pairs of participants matched by age, gender and home-heating experience. The participants were asked to attain a series of home-heating goals using an accelerated home-heating simulator. The impact of specific design features of a novel interface design was compared with an interface offering a traditional home-heating system experience. The evidence confirms that design features contributed to differences in UMMs, intentional behaviour and goal achievement. A mental model approach to design can be used as a means of putting users ‘in control’ of their heating system to enable them to fulfil their home-heating goals better.

Modelling distributed crewing with STAMP

Changes to crewing configurations in commercial airlines are likely to emerge as a means of reducing operating costs. To consider the safety implications for a distributed crewing configuration, System Theoretic Accident Model and Processes (STAMP) was applied to a rapid decompression hazard. High level control structures for current operations and distributed crewing are presented. The assumptions generated and additional steps to progress towards full System-Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) analysis are discussed.

An Evaluation of Inclusive Dialogue-Based Interfaces for the Takeover of Control in Autonomous Cars

This paper presents formative research to inform the design of intelligent automotive user interfaces. It describes an evaluation of dialogue-based interfaces, mediating the driver to take back control from the autonomous mode of a car. Four concepts designed to increase driver Situation Awareness were evaluated in a driving simulator. They used dialogue-based interaction, where driving-related information was either asked from or repeated by the driver, with the alternative of a countdown-based interface with no additional information. An inclusive set of participants, with a wide age spectrum, tested the interfaces. The shorter and simpler interaction of the countdown timer was most accepted. The interface seeking answers to driving-related questions came next, and the interface requiring repetition of driving-related information, even when augmented by visual and tactile cues, was least accepted. Design guidelines on utilizing dialogue as a means of keeping the driver in the loop during a takeover were thus derived.