Please Don't Abuse the Models: The Use of Experimental Design in Model Building

摘要

Human factors professionals strive to create effective system design by ensuring that the capabilities and limitations of the human operator are a primary design consideration. By demonstrating the effect of various design decisions concerning the human operator on system performance early in the development cycle, resulting recommendations may be adopted to enhance system performance. To achieve this goal, human performance modeling tools are used. One of the common misconceptions about modeling is that a model alone will impact design. A model is merely a building block within an analysis. An influential analysis incorporates the principles of experimental design, the power of predictive modeling and the varying system design requirements to produce results that empower program managers to make informed decisions regarding system design. Analysts at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory have successfully influenced the conceptual design of several manned ground vehicles by recognizing this difference.