User-Elicited Tactical Information Requirements with Implications for Symbology and Graphic Portrayal Standards

摘要

The primary purpose of this research was to elicit and organize selected battelfield information requirements of the command staff, and to examine the adequacy of conventional symbology for satisfying these requirements. An elicitation procedure was developed and utilized with small groups of Army officers in a tactical role-playing exercise involving a specified Division-level scenario. Information requirements in the form of tactical questions were generated and reviewed by participants, both individually and together. In addition, for each question, the participants completed a form which provided descriptive information such as whether the answer to the question is available from a display with conventional symbology (FM 21-30). In an effort to organize the information requirements, an hierarchical clustering technique was applied that analyzed the similarity between questions in terms of 58 semantic features (e. g., friendly, enemy, artillery, vulnerability, etc.). The elicitation sessions resulted in the generation of a total of 272 distinct tactical questions. These questions formed seven major clusters which were assigned the following names to reflect the central theme of their respective information content: friendly, enemy, time/capability, status, activities/procedures, terrain/routes, and planning. (Author)