Multifunction Displays for Optimum Manning: Towards Functional Integration and Cross-Functional Awareness

The Navy is faced with the challenge of designing integrated “multifunction displays” that provide information from traditionally disparate domains. These multifunction displays can be expected to improve operator situational awareness by presenting information that creates an integrated picture of related functional areas, increasing real-time coordination of actions across functional domains. In developing a process to design multifunction displays, we specified a method to provide linkages from analytical products to the resultant display designs, based on a Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) approach. This project created a multifunction display design for the Navy surface ship environment, focusing on opportunities to integrate information between two traditionally separate domains: Anti-submarine Warfare (ASW), and Damage Control (DC). Future efforts would expand the analysis and design effort to a more comprehensive level and validate the effectiveness of displays designed through this method.