Developing Behavioral Phenomena Test Benches

Abstract

A research and development program is underway to produce an innovative design support system for crew station designers. Known as the Performance Visualization Subsystem of the Computer Aided Systems Human Engineering Program (CASHE: PVS), this design tool will have data visualization and prototyping capabilities that will enable designers to “go beyond” the human perception and performance information available in the PVS database. Interactive software modules (called test benches) are being developed to allow designers to explore behavioral phenomena under different stimulus and response conditions. The objective of this paper is to describe a method we have used to translate the information in the PVS database into test bench specifications for software development. The basic approach in test bench design is: 1) to rely on standardized tasks and conditions where possible and 2) to provide designers with pedagogical illustrations of perceptual and performance effects. The procedures used in developing test bench specifications included identifying good candidates for test bench simulations, prioritizing the set of proposed test benches according to selection criteria developed by the design team, and recruiting subject matter experts to generate test bench specifications that will be used by the software engineers to implement the test bench code. The result of this effort will be a commercially available software product that will help crew station designers more effectively understand and apply human factors principles in the design process.

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