Human factors integration in defence: preface

Abstract

In the acquisition of large, complex pieces of equipment, such as many of those procured by the military, humancentred design is no longer enough to ensure the effectiveness of a system. Human factors integration (HFI) or human-system integration (HSI) as it is referred to in the US, is essentially a human-centric acquisition management process. HFI considers not just the specification, design and development of the user-centric aspects of the system, it also takes into account other processes, such as training, personnel skills and availability, and other organisational issues. It is the systematic process for identifying, tracking and resolving issues to ensure a balanced development of technological and human aspects of capability. The ‘‘I’’ in ‘‘HFI’’ refers to three aspects of integration: integration of humans and machines; integration between the HFI domains; and integration of Human Factors into the system acquisition process. It can broadly be characterised as a socio-technical systems based approach for the requirements specification, design, development and in-service monitoring of large pieces of equipment. HFI is a process which probably best lives within a system engineering context. The philosophy of human centred design (HCD) resides within HFI but it should be noted that HCD by itself is a necessary but not sufficient component of the HFI process. HCD alone is no longer sufficient to ensure system effectiveness.