Human Factors Issues of Data Link: Application of a Systems Analysis

It is often difficult to fully anticipate all the potential problems with a new technology. It is particularly difficult to anticipate potential human factors problems and issues because they are often qualitative, and they often arise out of complex interactions between the new technology and its users and operational environment. For these reasons, the task of identifying potential human factors problems for emerging systems and equipment often falls to committees of experts. The Function Allocation Issues and Tradeoffs methodology is intended to assist the identification of potential human factors issues and requirement areas for new systems and equipment. We have recently applied the methodology to identify potential human factors issues and requirement areas for commercial aviation data link systems, particularly those that may replace voice communications between pilots and air traffic controllers. The methodology and some specific results for data link are described.