Work-Centered Design and Evaluation of a C2 Visualization Aid

Abstract

Command and Control (C2) operators increasingly need to assimilate large amounts of near-real time data distributed across multiple sources to identify, interpret, and mentally fuse the information necessary to accomplish their work. We have been developing and applying work-centered design and evaluation methodologies to design advanced visualization and support tools intended to more effectively support C2 cognitive and collaborative work. The paper reports the results of a work-centered evaluation assessing the usability and usefulness of an innovative work-centered visualization aid (a graphic mission timeline display) we developed to support mission replanning during execution in a C2 airlift service. The evaluation compared performance with the work-centered visualization to performance using the existing information technology system. The work-centered visualization produced statistically significant improvement in task completion time, errors, workload and situation awareness. The results point to the value of taking a work-centered analysis and design approach.