A Scale for Assessing Human Factors Readiness Levels

Abstract

This paper describes a proposed scale of Human Factors Readiness Levels (HFRL) that provides a method for standardizing Human Factors (HF) readiness assessment. This scale can be used by HF decision makers in the acquisition, project management, or implementation phases in conjunction with Technological Readiness Levels, and includes HF-specific level descriptions and evaluation requirements. To determine HF readiness, information about the risks, processes, and quality of conducted R&D with respect to 24 HF study areas must be gathered. Gathered information is then used to determine individual HFRL scores for each area, and an overall HFRL for the evaluated system. Using HFRLs, researchers or decision makers can identify several categories of research issues. Specifically, an HFRL analysis can help them assess whether HF R&D resources are optimally allocated, whether HF area interdependencies are considered, whether gaps in the HF R&D process exist, or whether there are problems with HF R&D quality. The use of such a process will enable the standardization of HF R&D metrics across participating organizations to ensure quality of research, and facilitate sharing HF R&D efforts and outcomes across agencies.