Evaluation of Access/Navigational features of a Graphical-User InterfaceInstalled on a Portable Maintenance Aid

摘要

Portable maintenance aids (PMAs) are being developed to access and storeelectronic technical information on the flightline. The prototype PMA designed by Armstrong Laboratory personnel has redundant access/navigational,features. Redundancy increases software memory usage and adds unnecessary weight to the PMA. The purpose of this research was to determine the best access/navigational feature installed on the PMA. The best feature is the feature that provides the highest degree of user satisfaction. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the following features for screen and menu access and navigation, respectively: dedicated/hardware keys, programmable soft keys, and push button keys, and number keys, cursor control keys, and programmable soft keys. Modified computer screens from the prototype PMA were used on a laptop personal computer, which simulated the PMA, to evaluate each feature one-at-a-time. Twenty-eight maintenance technicians located at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, rated and ranked each access/navigational feature. The results indicated that the best feature for screen access and navigation was the dedicated/hardware keys and the best feature for menu access and navigation was the number keys. Portable maintenance aids, Graphical user interfaces, Man-computer interfaces, Electronic technical manuals.