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Step 2 - Understand and Define the Context of Use
The
Human Factors Specialist leads the effort to develop and document
the Context of Use. The Context of Use is more detailed than a Concept
of Operations (CONOPS). If available, the CONOPS may form the basis
of the Context of Use and may be referenced or incorporated within
it. The purpose of the Context of Use is to assemble information
essential to guide human-centered design requirements definition,
function allocation, and specification development. To this end,
the Context of Use needs to:
-
Define
user characteristics, pertinent to system design
- Physical
- age, gender, size
-
Cultural - language, ethnicity
- Abilities
& Aptitudes - knowledge, skills, education, experience
-
Define human role strategy
- Human
role in the system
- Degree
& type of automation under consideration
- Define
the physical environment
- Indoor,
outdoor, or combination
- Task
environment - space, lighting, noise, temperature, vibration,
etc.
- Hardware
& software attributes - standalone, LAN, WAN, radar, etc.
- Define
the organizational environment
- Stakeholders
perspectives
- Required
and/or applicable standards
- Links/interactions
with other systems
-
Measures of effectiveness
-
Measures of performance.
To
develop this information, the specialist may interview managers,
development team members, and other stakeholders. The Context of
Use is a "living" document that is added to, modified, and updated
as system development progresses. It provides the foundation for
STEP 3 in the user/human-centered design process.
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