Publications

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The Human Readiness Level scale complements and supplements the existing technology readiness level scale to support comprehensive and systematic evaluation of human system aspects throughout a system’s life cycle. The objective is to ensure humans can use a fielded technology or system as intended to support mission operations safely and effectively. This article defines the nine human readiness levels in the scale, explains their meaning, and illustrates their application using a helmet-mounted display example.

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A controlled between-groups experiment was conducted to demonstrate the value of human factors for process design. Twenty-four Sandia National Laboratories employees completed a simple visual inspection task simulating receipt inspection. The experimental group process was designed to conform to human factors and visual inspection principles, whereas the control group process was designed without consideration of such principles. Results indicated the experimental group exhibited superior performance accuracy, lower workload, and more favorable usability ratings as compared to the control group. The study provides evidence to help human factors experts revitalize the critical message regarding the benefits of human factors involvement for a new generation of systems engineers.

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A controlled between-groups experiment was conducted to demonstrate the value of human factors for process design. Most evidence to convey the benefits of human factors is derived from reactive studies of existing flawed systems designed with little or no human factors involvement. Controlled experiments conducted explicitly to demonstrate the benefits of human factors have been scarce since the 1990s. Further, most previous research focused on product or interface design as opposed to process design. The present study was designed to fill these research gaps. Toward that end, 24 Sandia National Laboratories employees completed a simple visual inspection task simulating receipt inspection. The experimental group process was designed to conform to human factors and visual inspection principles, whereas the control group process was designed without consideration of such principles. Results indicated the experimental group exhibited superior performance accuracy, lower workload, and more favorable usability ratings as compared to the control group. Given the differences observed in the simple task used in the present study, the author concluded that incorporating human factors should have even greater benefits for complex products and processes. The study provides evidence to help human factors practitioners revitalize the critical message regarding the benefits of human factors involvement for a new generation of designers.

Since 2010, the concept of human readiness levels (HRL) has been under development as a possible supplement to the existing technology readiness levels (TRL) scale. The intent is to provide a mechanism to address safety and performance risks associated with the human component in a system that parallels the TRL structure already familiar to the systems engineering community. Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, initiated a study in 2015 to evaluate options to incorporate human readiness planning for Sandia processes and products. To date, the study team has baselined current development processes at Sandia and collected feedback on the viability ofpotential options for human readiness planning. Future efforts entail assessing the utility of identified solutions in one or more test cases.

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A human readiness levels (HRL) scale provides a framework to factor in the human dimension during technology development. This framework promotes careful consideration of the human as a part of the system throughout the product lifecycle. Insufficient attention to the human component of the system can lead to added costs, delayed deliverables, system failure, and even the loss of human life in high-consequence systems. We make the economic and technical justification for using an HRL scale by evaluating a reactive case study within a national laboratory. We create a historical technology readiness level (TRL) adoption roadmap to forecast a potential HRL adoption roadmap. We identify characteristics of organizations that are most likely to adopt the scale and conclude by recommending several project management tactics to ensure successful implementation.

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Objective: Sandia National Laboratories conducted an experiment for the National Nuclear Security Administration to determine the reliability of visual inspection of precision manufactured parts used in nuclear weapons. Background: Visual inspection has been extensively researched since the early 20th century; however, the reliability of visual inspection for nuclear weapons parts has not been addressed. In addition, the efficacy of using inspector confidence ratings to guide multiple inspections in an effort to improve overall performance accuracy is unknown. Further, the workload associated with inspection has not been documented, and newer measures of stress have not been applied. Method: Eighty-two inspectors in the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise inspected 140 parts for eight different defects. Results: Inspectors correctly rejected 85% of defective items and incorrectly rejected 35% of acceptable parts. Use of a phased inspection approach based on inspector confidence ratings was not an effective or efficient technique to improve the overall accuracy of the process. Results did verify that inspection is a workload-intensive task, dominated by mental demand and effort. Conclusion: Hits for Nuclear Security Enterprise inspection were not vastly superior to the industry average of 80%, and they were achieved at the expense of a high scrap rate not typically observed during visual inspection tasks. Application: This study provides the first empirical data to address the reliability of visual inspection for precision manufactured parts used in nuclear weapons. Results enhance current understanding of the process of visual inspection and can be applied to improve reliability for precision manufactured parts.

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Vigilance, or sustained attention, involves the ability to maintain focus and remain alert for prolonged periods of time. Problems associated with the ability to sustain attention were first identified in real-world combat situations during World War II, and they continue to abound and evolve as new and different types of situations requiring vigilance arise. This paper provides a review of the vigilance literature that describes the primary psychophysical, task, environmental, pharmacological, and individual factors that impact vigilance performance. The paper also describes how seminal findings from vigilance research apply specifically to the task of sentry duty. The strengths and weaknesses of a human sentry and options to integrate human and automated functions for vigilance tasks are discussed. Finally, techniques that may improve vigilance performance for sentry duty tasks are identified.

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