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 project's 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.

Contents: Preface; Overview of the book; Human factors in system design; Mission planning and battlespace management; Constraint analysis; Hierarchical task analysis; Distributed situation awareness; Social network analysis; SCADA analysis; Usability questionnaire; Environmental survey; Summary: conclusions and recommendations; References; Indexes.

Professor Stanton holds a Chair in Human Factors in the School of Civil Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton. He has published over 140 peer-reviewed journal papers and 14 books on Human Factors and Ergonomics. In 1998 he was awarded the Institution of Electrical Engineers Divisional Premium Award for a co-authored paper on Engineering Psychology and System Safety. The Ergonomics Society awarded him the Otto Edholm medal in 2001 and The President's Medal in 2008 for his contribution to basic and applied ergonomics research. In 2007 The Royal Aeronautical Society awarded him the Hodgson Medal and Bronze Award with colleagues for their work on flight deck safety. Professor Stanton is an editor of the journal Ergonomics and on the editorial boards of Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science and the International Journal of Human Computer Interaction. Professor Stanton is a Fellow and Chartered Occupational Psychologist registered with The British Psychological Society, and a Fellow of The Ergonomics Society. He has a BSc (Hons) in Occupational Psychology from the University of Hull, an MPhil in Applied Psychology and a PhD in Human Factors from Aston University in Birmingham. Dan Jenkins Graduated in 2004 from Brunel University with an MEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering and Design receiving the 'University Prize' for top student in the department. With over two years experienced as a Design Engineer in the Automotive Industry, Dan has worked in a number of roles throughout the world. This wide range of placements has developed experience encompassing design, engineering, project management and commercial awareness. Dan returned to Brunel in 2005 to become a Research Fellow in the Ergonomics Research Group, working primarily on the HFI-DTC project. Studying part-time, Dan gained his PhD in Human Factors and Interaction Design in 2008. Both academically and within industry Dan has always had a strong focus on customer orientated des