Making a comprehensive business case for human factors integration: approaches to tracing the intangible

The presentation of human factors (HF) benefits in business terms remains a central requirement to ensure the inclusion of HF activities into procurement project activities, especially when fundamental human factors integration (HFI) budget decisions are being made - usually by non-HF professionals. HF professionals, on the other hand, tend to have very little training in presenting HF benefits in terms of their cost effects. In the military domain, we are faced with the challenge of having to provide a comprehensive case, covering issues within all of the six HFI domains. To support the task for making a strong and clear argument for HFI, both process guidance and suitable evidence is required. This paper identifies requirements and approaches for cost-justifying HFI grounded in suitable evidence.