NASA
Human Factors Engineer
Emergency System, Human Interface Panel
Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) is the living quarters and research facility for astronauts visiting the Gateway, on the lunar space station.
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The Human Interface Panel (HIP), an emergency panel that is considered the last line of defense to save the space station and the astronaut was yet to be designed.
HIP Development Goals
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Determine the HIP design
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Allow for quick response under extreme distress
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Provide status monitoring capability
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Intuitive interface design to minimize cognitive load
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Emergency System
Understanding Emergency Use Cases & Steps
Designing a spacecraft's emergency system requires a tailored approach to specific risks and situations. Ensures the system aligns with real-life situations, reduces human error, and enhances crew preparedness and decision-making under pressure is critical.
Key Insights
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Determined the scope of the emergency system
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Clearly defined system functionality and human-computer interactions
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Outlined preliminary astronaut workflows to determine potential areas for improvement
Emergency Scenarios
Use Case
Use Case
Steps
Initial Concept*
The initial concept given was a numerical entry design, which refers to any input that consists of numbers in a device such as keypad. Astronauts would enter a combination numbers to execute commands.
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Key Insights
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Quick access to commands
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Vulnerability to human error in extreme distress
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Significant amount of training and preparedness to memorize all commands
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*Designs are oversimplified, altered and do not represent actual system behavior that exist on HALO
Numerical Entry
"Go ahead and check how much battery is left for battery B"
B
T
Y
B
8
5
%
1
0
0
0
Run
"Go ahead and check how much battery is left for battery B"
Power
Battery A
Battery B
85%
Select
Select
Redesign*
A redesign was pushed that leverage a menu-based structure rather than numeric entry. Menu-based structure presents user with a list of options or category allowing them to navigate and select items from a menu.
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*Designs are oversimplified, altered and do not represent actual system behavior that exist on HALO​
Menu-Based Concept
Human In The Loop (HITL)
A/B Testing
HITL is a collaborative evaluation for optimizing designs and to reveal design and integration problems. The objective of this HITL was to determine which concept performs better under the same emergency conditions and identify opportunities for cost efficient improvements to maximize safety.
"Go ahead and check how much battery is left for battery B"
Prototype A
B
T
Y
B
8
5
%
1
0
0
0
Run
Prototype B
Select
Power
Battery A
Battery B
85%
Result
A handful of astronauts performed emergency scenarios using both prototypes. Performance and user preference data was collected and determined the menu-based structure is to move forward.
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Astronauts strongly preferred the menu-based concept
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More system information was available to see at any given time
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Less likely to make use error in highly stressful environments
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Required less training for astronauts
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Identified multiple opportunities for improve based on astronaut feedback