The design of a human factors questionnaire for cockpit assessment

This paper outlines research by the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency on the development of a questionnaire to assess the C-130J cockpit. The C-130J is an off-the-shelf procurement that did not have a specific requirement for compliance with standards such as Military Standard 1472D, British Standard BS EN JSO 9241, Defence Standard 00-25 and Defence Standard 00-970. However, as part of the human factors test and acceptance of the system, a cockpit assessment was needed to determine the overall level of compliance with these standards. To complete this task, a questionnaire was required to ensure that all avenues of human factors were properly assessed and recorded. Due to the limited time available to complete the questionnaire, it was not possible for the assessor to go into great depths. The questionnaire used a rating scale based upon the modified Cooper-Harper rating scale. The questionnaire was designed to assess areas such as: anthropometry, emergency procedures, vision and lighting, health and safety, display and control layout and design, as well as many aspects of screen layout. During the assessment, the questionnaire proved to be a considerable asset in gathering the relevant information and prioritising human factors problems. It was viewed by the assessor as an extremely beneficial design tool that could be employed with modifications, to many other design applications