Human Factors Design Standard
Updated:02:58 PM March 20, 2009
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The Problem
There are recurring design questions that FAA product teams face when developing or procuring new products to ensure that they are usable. Human error has been attributed to over 60% of aviation accidents (NTSB, 1994). Many of these incidents may be due to equipment that is designed or procured without adequate consideration of the intended user. Thus, it is critical that FAA systems and equipment are designed and procured to be maximally usable. Yet the time and money it would cost to have each product team comb through the research literature to extract the relevant guidelines is prohibitive. ISO documents that exist are costly and may not have relevance to FAA systems. This project produced a Human Factors Standard that will not only reduce development and procurement time for FAA systems and equipment, but also lead to more usable systems, reducing cognitive load and training costs.
The Solution
The Human Factors Team-Atlantic City has recently released a Human Factors Design Standard (HFDS). The HFDS replaces Human Factors Design Guide (HFDG), which served as a primary reference for 7 years. The new standard will provide updated and reorganized information, allowing easier access to what systems developers need. As of January 2003, almost 2000 of the CDs have been distributed, while other users have downloaded the document from the website.
The HFDS takes information from a wide range of sources including government and industry standards and academic research. It presents the information in the form of “should” and “shall” statements. These statements can be easily converted into system-specific requirements documents or checklists. With over 100 new rules and guidelines and a reorganization of material based on information from users of the HFDG, the new HFDS is designed to provide updated information, in a clear, concise format that will improve usability of the document. The new revision also has additional explanatory material in the form of new examples, discussions, and definitions intended to give the practitioner information on the justification for and tradeoffs involved for specific rules and guidelines.
The HFDS covers a broad range of human factors topics including automation, displays and printers, controls and visual indicators, alarms, audio and voice, computer human interface, workstation and workplace design, system security, personnel safety, environment, anthropometrics and biomechanics, and user documentation. It is considered a “living document”, with portions of the document updated on a regular basis. Currently the chapter on input devices is being updated, with the updated chapter scheduled for release next year.
