The U.S. Army Acquisition Process and Close MANPRINT Encounters of the “Early” & “Agile” Kind

Abstract

Fiscal reform initiatives and a desire to increase human-system performance and effectiveness at the user interface have not only created challenges for ARL HRED human factors/ergonomics (HF/E) practitioners, but have also created opportunities to demonstrate the impact and return-on-investment (ROI) that earlier engagement brings to the acquisition process. A panel of multidisciplinary HF/E practitioners discusses the tools, techniques, and environments in which they have worked when engaging in “early” acquisition activities prior to Milestone (MS) B, which marks the formal start of an Army system’s acquisition program. They will take a retrospective look at what has worked well and what has not when influencing design decisions post-MS B and how these lessons learned may be applied prior to MS B. They will also share insights gleaned from a program that was initiated to apply HF/E early in the deliberate acquisition process that is currently in its second year of a 2-year program as well as their involvement in the Agile process. We seek audience participation as we discuss the extent to which we have been successful in meeting our objectives and how we can best frame what we have learned in terms of ROI. Our panelists, who have previous experience in industry and military services other than the Army, draw from their expertise in HF/E and varied experience with a wide range of commodity-oriented systems. Panel discussions will reveal critical insights that are generalizable across a wide range of industry sectors as well as those that warrant future implementation and further investigation.