Common human factors issues in the design of airport surface moving maps

A surface moving map presents a dynamic image of the airport, along with own aircraft’s position. It is expected to improve the overall safety of airport surface operations, but could have unintended consequences if not implemented appropriately. The purpose of this effort was to incorporate usability testing to identify potential human factors issues that could limit the anticipated benefits of surface moving maps and propose possible resolutions. We partnered with industry to obtain two surface moving map software applications and conducted usability evaluations of them to determine common human factors issues. The results are classified into six categories: use of color, symbology, information prioritization, controls, speed and reliability, and taxi route display.