Economic Benefits of Task Centered Design

A comparison of the data-centered and the task-centered user interface design processes is made for software developed to support two ongoing missile defense projects. The evaluation includes discussions of the software development costs associated with each design method and the impact of human factors engineering expertise on development costs. Two separate experiments were conducted using 16 participants with prior military experience in missile defense and warning missions. Participants performed specific command and control duties during battle scenarios that simulated a missile defense mission. Participants were supplied software command and control tools designed according to either a task-centered or data-centered design process. Measures of accuracy and time to complete task were collected. Also, the costs associated with each design approach were considered. [This paper presents additional analyses of data originally reported in Gateway (Armstrong & Steinberg, 1999).]