System Complexity versus Human Capabilities: A Data Base to Close the Widening Gap
Authors: Dick R. A. , McCallum Marvin C. 
Published: January 2012

A relatively large data base was developed to address the following issue: Problems in the operation and maintenance of increasingly sophisticated weapon systems have mandated a new design philosophy—manpower must become a design tradeoff variable, just like performance, cost, reliability, size, weight, etc. However, to make manpower a genuine design tradeoff variable, data are needed concerning the impact of various design alternatives on manpower parameters, like skill level requirements, maintenance manhours, etc. These data were collected and are presented in Design Guide to Operator and Technician Requirements, which covers several Navy weapon systems.

Three types of data are presented in the design guide: The first is the estimated impact of 66 design alternatives on operator proficiency, maintainer proficiency, maintenance manhours, system initial acquisition cost, and system life cycle cost. These estimates were provided for four types of electronics-intensive systems by highly experienced, senior designers. Experienced senior technicians provided estimates for the same parameters, except costs.

The second type of data covers the descriptive characteristics of technicians that operate and maintain the electronic systems. These profiles are to educate bench-level designers in industry, who often have little understanding of the capabilities of system users.

The third type of data is a set of “lessons learned” from existing systems. Based on surveys of senior technicians, these data include: (1) profiles of the percentages of technicians at each of three paygrades who can perform selected operation and maintenance tasks without supervision; (2) the attribution of specific problem tasks to faulty design, inadequate manuals, or inadequate training; and (3) statements of specific design problems and recommended changes for problems caused by faulty design.

The design guide currently comprises six volumes. Volume 1 presents an overview of the entire series, a procedure for using data from the other volumes to perform design tradeoff analyses, and a collection of comments by designers (which is a necessary reference for interpreting the data correctly). Volumes 2-5 present data for specific types of electronic weapon systems. Volume 6 is a technical report that documents the procedures used in acquiring and analyzing the data. Full titles and DTIC ordering numbers are as follows:

• Design Guide to Operator and Technician Requirements: Volume 1. Overview for Surface Ship Electronic Systems. (AD-B073 358L) • Design Guide to Operator and Technician Requirements: Volume 2. Surface Ship Sonar. (AD-B073 359L) • Design Guide to Operator and Technician Requirements: Volume 3. Surface Ship Search and Navigation Radar. (AD-B073 360L) • Design Guide to Operator and Technician Requirements: Volume 4. Gun and Surface Missile Fire Control Systems. (AD-BO73 361L) • Design Guide to Operator and Technician Requirements: Volume 5. Gun Mount and Launcher Control Systems. (AD-B073 362L) • Design Guide to Operator and Technician Requirements: Volume 6. Research Leading to Guide Development. (AD-B073 363L)

This work was sponsored by the Navy Personnel Research and Development Center, San Diego, California, Code 17.