Effective integration of humans with their systems and tools is critical to the success of any complex acquisition program.  In the 1990s, the US Department of Defense (DOD) first recognized the importance of a coherent approach to the challenges of integrating humans and systems.  With the publication of Instruction 5000.02, DOD invented the discipline of Human-System Integration (HSI) as a mash-up of several previously separate disciplines encompassing manpower, personnel, training, occupational health and safety, human factors engineering, and others.  In the years since, sophisticated tools and techniques have evolved to help ensure that human capabilities and limitations are factored into the design of complex “systems of systems” that are typical of defense acquisition.  These tools usually generate data that form the basis of elements in the various “views” required by the DOD Acquisition Framework (DODAF).

Fillable pdf form with color coded fields.

Rational, LLC, provides technical services to government and private industry clients from a decidedly HSI perspective.  We use commercial tools, such as Enterprise Architect®, of course, but over the years we have also developed our own tools and techniques to facilitate our work, and we have decided to make some of these available to the public domain.  These tools are released under this Creative Commons 4.0 license.  Basically the terms and conditions of the license mean you can claim a non-exclusive paid-up, world-wide license to use the materials as-is, or modify the materials for your purposes (including rebranding) as long as you identify Rational as the source from which you derived the materials.

The first of our tools to be released is a straightforward data collection instrument, described below.  Over time, presuming the effort proves useful to others, we will release additional tools and software under the Creative Commons 4.0 license.  If you find these things of value, please email us, or come back to this page and leave a comment (see below). We’d love to hear from you.

Tools

Data Collection Instruments

• Single-page forms, with instructions, in pdf-format – available in two versions for identifying and tracking HSI deficiencies in an acquisition program. These forms are essentially un-branded, so you can use them out of the box. Just download, duplicate as needed, give each copy a different name (we use a strategy similar to semantic versioning), and start collecting data. Forms can be filled out by someone using a free Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can use a tool such as Adobe Acrobat Pro® to modify the form to your own needs. Adobe Acrobat® allows you to export data from a filled-in form into MS Excel®, for example to support statistical analysis, or for uploading into a database such as MySql®. These forms can serve as a model for your IT department to prepare an on-line data-collection system as well. The two form variants are –
  • Color-coded/required fields – certain fields that should be filled in for each new submittal are marked in a different background color.
  • Non-coded – the same form, but without color-coded required fields

• Click here for the Berliner taxonomy (with appropriate citation). The forms refer to a “Model” and “Classification.” You may use any model you like – we typically use the Berliner model as it is comprehensive and has something of a theory behind it.
  • It also meshes nicely with our control theoretic framework.