Adaptations in the US Army MANPRINT process to utilize HSI-inclusive system architectures

Abstract

Accommodating the human as a system element in the architecting process allows for better integration of the organizational HSI processes (Army MANPRINT program), yielding improvements in HSI-organization and task efficiency. Following the lead of Model-Based Systems Engineering, there are advantages to using model-based tools to perform the HSI development and documentation rather than the document-centric approach that is currently used. This approach also benefits the HSI-domains that must be linked internally within the greater HSI process. Another useful effect may be found in the MANPRINT process to investigate a given human task interface within the system architecture for the possibility for an “expert” user negotiating that interface with an improved level of performance, significantly different than the performance of a standard user. Using system architectures with HSI elements in place, we should be able to trace their performance advantage to one or more human element “interfaces” within the system and classify the expert skill required to increase human-system performance and reinforce the system architecture at that point.