Human Interface Evaluation Methods for Submarine Combat Systems Navy SBIR FY2005.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2005.1 Topic No.: N05-064 Topic Title: Human Interface Evaluation Methods for Submarine Combat Systems Proposal No.: N051-064-0581 Firm: Micro Analysis and Design, Inc. 4949 Pearl East Circle Suite 300 Boulder, Colorado 80301-2477 Contact: Ron Small Phone: (303) 442-6947 Web Site: www.maad.com Abstract: The most common cause of submarine combat system failures is human error. A prevalent approach is to reduce errors by (a) consulting with domain experts to determine what caused each error, and (b) providing a system upgrade to fix the individual problems that caused each error. The problem with this approach is that the sum of the individual solutions does not necessarily create a better overall system solution. And, presently, there are no tools for evaluating the impact of system upgrades on performance. The objectives for Phase I are to understand the sources of error for a typical submarine combat system operator task (e.g., target tracking), and then to develop a human performance model. In addition to the model, we will address the sources of error using our error remediation techniques and tools. The ultimate goal is to provide products (i.e., tools and processes) that improve system performance, that objectively measure those improvements, and that help incorporate the proven improvements into the fleet. Benefits: The primary benefit of the proposed research is the development of objective metrics and tools that will be used in the improvement of submarine combat system operator interfaces. Such tools and metrics also apply to other complex control systems, such as those found in commercial power and chemical plants, and in other military systems. Return