Digitising Command and Control: A Human Factors and Ergonomics Analysis of Mission Planning and Battlespace Management (Human factors in defence)

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.

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.

Provides A Thorough Analysis Of The Various Human Factors Critical To Command And Control Planning And Modeling Of Military Missions; A Detailed Treatment Of The Limits And Successes Of Current Digital Planning And Management Systems For The Battlefield. Included Are Goal/function Analysis, Situation Awareness, Social Interactions And Cognitive Work Analysis. This Is A Valuable Resource For Anyone Engaged In Analysis And Subsequent (re)design Of Distributed Socio-technical Systems, In The Military Or Civilian World. Emphasis Is Placed At The Brigade (bde) And Battle Group (bg) Headquarters (hq) Levels. 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. Neville A. Stanton ... [et Al.]. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes.