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Contents

Appendix A    Acronyms  
Appendix B    Glossary  
Appendix C    How to Write a Good Requirement— Checklist
Appendix D    Requirements Verification Matrix  
Appendix E    Creating the Validation Plan with a Validation Requirements Matrix
Appendix F    Functional, Timing, and State Analysis
Appendix G    Technology Assessment/Insertion
Appendix H    Integration Plan Outline
Appendix I     Verification and Validation Plan Outline
Appendix J     SEMP Content Outline
Appendix K    Technical Plans
Appendix L     Interface Requirements Document Outline
Appendix M    CM Plan Outline
Appendix N    Guidance on Technical Peer Reviews/Inspections
Appendix O    Reserved
Appendix P    SOW Review Checklist
Appendix Q    Reserved
Appendix R    HSI Plan Content Outline
Appendix S    Concept of Operations Annotated Outline
Appendix T    Systems Engineering in Phase E

References Cited
Bibliography

R.1 HSI Plan Overview

The Human Systems Integration (HSI) Plan documents the strategy for and planned implementation of HSI through a particular program’s/project’s life cycle. The intent of HSI is:

  • To ensure the human elements of the total system are effectively integrated with hardware and software elements,
  • To ensure all human capital required to develop and operate the system is accounted for in life cycle costing, and
  • To ensure that the system is built to accommodate the characteristics of the user population that will operate, maintain, and support the system.

The HSI Plan is specific to a program or project and applies to NASA systems engineering per NPR 7123.1, NASA Systems Engineering Processes and Requirements. The HSI Plan should address the following:

  • Roles and responsibilities for integration across HSI domains;
  • Roles and responsibilities for coordinating integrated HSI domain inputs with the program team and stakeholders;
  • HSI goals and deliverables for each phase of the life cycle;
  • Entry and exit criteria with defined metrics for each phase, review, and milestone;
  • Planned methods, tools, requirements, processes, and standards for conducting HSI;
  • Strategies for identifying and resolving HSI risks; and
  • Alignment strategy with the SEMP.

The party or parties responsible for program/project HSI implementation—e.g., an HSI integrator (or team)—should be identified by the program/project manager. The HSI integrator or team develops and maintains the HSI Plan with support from and coordination with the project manager and systems engineer.

Implementation of HSI on a program/project utilizes many of the tools and products already required by systems engineering; e.g., development of a ConOps, clear functional allocation across the elements of a system (hardware, software, and human), and the use of key performance measurements through the life cycle to validate and verify HSI’s effectiveness. It is not the intent of the HSI Plan or its implementation to duplicate other systems engineering plans or processes, but rather to define the uniquely HSI effort being made to ensure the human element is given equal consideration to hardware/software elements of a program/project.

R.2 HSI Plan Content Outline

Each program/project-specific HSI Plan should be tailored to fit the program/project’s size, scope, and purpose. The following is an example outline for a major program; e.g., space flight or aeronautics.

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Purpose

This section briefly identifies the ultimate objectives for this program/project’s HSI Plan. This section also introduces the intended implementers and users of this HSI Plan.

1.2 Scope

This section describes the overall scope of the HSI Plan’s role in documenting the strategy for and implementation of HSI. Overall, this section describes that the HSI Plan:

  • Is a dynamic document that will be updated at key life cycle milestones.
  • Is a planning and management guide that describes how HSI will be relevant to the program/project’s goals.
  • Describes planned HSI methodology, tools, schedules, and deliverables.
  • Identifies known program/project HSI issues and concerns and how their resolutions will be addressed.
  • Defines program/project HSI organizational elements, roles, and responsibilities.
  • May serve as an audit trail that documents HSI data sources, analyses, activities, trade studies, and decisions not captured in other program/project documentation.

1.3 Definitions

This section defines key HSI terms and references relevant program/project-specific terms.

2.0 Applicable Documents

This section lists all documents, references, and data sources that are invoked by HSI’s implementation on the program/project, that have a direct impact on HSI outcomes, and/or are impacted by the HSI effort.

3.0 HSI Objectives

3.1 System Description

This section describes the system, missions to be performed, expected operational environment(s), predecessor and/or legacy systems (and lessons learned), capability gaps, stage of development, etc. Additionally, reference should be made to the acquisition strategy for the system; e.g., if it is developed in-house within NASA or if major systems are intended for external procurement. The overall strategy for program integration should be referenced.

Note that this information is likely captured in other program/project documentation and can be referenced in the HSI Plan rather than repeated.

3.2 HSI Relevance

At a high level, this section describes HSI’s relevance to the program/project; i.e., how the HSI strategy will improve the program/project’s outcome. Known HSI challenges should be described along with mention of areas where human performance in the system’s operations is predicted to directly impact the probability of overall system performance and mission success.

4.0 HSI Strategy

4.1 HSI Strategy Summary

This section summarizes the HSI approaches, planning, management, and strategies for the program/project. It should describe how HSI products will be integrated across all HSI domains and how HSI inputs to program/project systems engineering and management processes contribute to system performance and help contain life cycle cost. This section (or Implementation Summary, Section 6 of this outline) should include a top-level schedule showing key HSI milestones.

4.2 HSI Domains

This section identifies the HSI domains applicable to the program/project including rationale for their relevance.

HSI RELEVANCE

Key Points

  • Describe performance characteristics of the human elements known to be key drivers to a desired total system performance outcome.
  • Describe the total system performance goals that require HSI support.
  • Identify HSI concerns with legacy systems; e.g., if operations and logistics, manpower, skill selection, required training, logistics support, operators’ time, maintenance, and/or risks to safety and success exceeded expectations.
  • Identify potential cost, schedule, risk, and trade-off concerns with the integration of human elements; e.g., quantity and skills of operators, maintainers, ground controllers, etc.

HSI STRATEGY

Key Points

  • Identify critical program/project-specific HSI key decision points that will be used to track HSI implementation and success.
  • Identify key enabling (and particularly, emerging) technologies and methodologies that may be overlooked in hardware/software systems trade studies but that may positively contribute to HSI implementation; e.g., in the areas of human performance, workload, personnel management, training, safety, and survivability.
  • Describe HSI products that will be integrated with program/project systems engineering products, analyses, risks, trade studies, and activities.
  • Describe efforts to ensure HSI will contribute in critically important Phase A and Pre-Phase A cost-effective design concept studies.
  • Describe the plan and schedule for updating the HSI Plan through the program/project life cycle.

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5.0 HSI Requirements, Organization, and Risk Management 

5.1 HSI Requirements

This section references HSI requirements and standards applicable to the program/project and identifies the authority that invokes them; e.g., the NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) document(s) that invoke applicability.

HSI DOMAINS

Key Points

  • Identify any domain(s) associated with human performance capabilities and limitations whose integration into the program/project is likely to directly affect the probability of successful program/project outcome.
  • An overview of processes to apply, document, validate, evaluate, and mitigate HSI domain knowledge and to integrate domain knowledge into integrated HSI inputs to program/project and systems engineering processes.

HSI REQUIREMENTS

Key Points

  • Describe how HSI requirements that are invoked on the program/project contribute to mission success, affordability, operational effectiveness, and safety.
  • HSI should include requirements that influence the system design to moderate manpower (operators, maintainers, system administrative, and support personnel), required skill sets (occupational specialties with high aptitude or skill requirements), and training requirements.
  • Define the program/project-specific HSI strategy derived from NASA-STD-3001, NASA Space Flight Human-System Standard, Volume 2: Human Factors, Habitability, and Environmental Health, Standard 3.5 [V2 3005], “Human-Centered Design Process”, if applicable.
  • Capture the development process and rationale for any program/project-specific requirements not derived from existing NASA standards. In particular, manpower, skill set, and training HSI requirements/ goals may be so program/project-specific as to not have NASA parent standards or requirements.
  • Identify functional connections between HSI measures of effectiveness used to verify requirements and key performance measures used throughout the life cycle as indicators of overall HSI effectiveness.

5.2 HSI Organization, Roles, and Responsibilities

In this section, roles and responsibilities for program/project personnel assigned to facilitate and/or manage​ HSI tasks are defined; e.g., the HSI integrator (and/or team if required by NPR 8705.2). HSI integrator/team functional responsibilities to the program are described in addition to identification of organizational elements with HSI responsibilities. Describe the relationships between HSI integrator/team, stakeholders, engineering technical teams, and governing bodies (control boards).

5.2.1 ​HSI Organization
  • Describe the HSI management structure for the program/project and identify its leaders and membership.
  • Reference the organizational structure of the program (including industry partners) and describe the roles and responsibilities of the HSI integrator/team within that structure. Describe the HSI responsible party’s relationship to other teams, including those for systems engineering, logistics, risk management, test and evaluation, and requirements verification.
  • Provide the relationship of responsible HSI personnel to NASA Technical Authorities (Engineering, Safety, and Health/Medical).
  • Identify if the program/project requires NASA- (Government) and/or contractor-issued HSI Plans, and identify the responsible author(s). Describe how NASA’s HSI personnel will monitor and assess contractor HSI activities. For contractor-issued HSI Plans, identify requirements and processes for NASA oversight and evaluation of HSI efforts by subcontractors.
5.2.2 HSI Roles & Responsibilities
  • Describe the HSI responsible personnel’s functional responsibilities to the program/project, addressing (as examples) the following:
    • developing HSI program documentation;
    • validating human performance requirements;
    • conducting HSI analyses;
    • designing human machine interfaces to provide the level of human performance required for operations, maintenance, and support, including conduct of training;
    • describing the role of HSI experts in documenting and reporting the results from tests and evaluations.
  • Define how collaboration will be performed within the HSI team, across program/project integrated product teams and with the program/project manager and systems engineer.
  • Define how the HSI Plan and the SEMP will be kept aligned with each other.
  • Define responsibility for maintaining and updating the HSI Plan through the program/project’s life cycle.

5.3 HSI Issue and Risk Processing

This section describes any HSI-unique processes for identifying and mitigating human system risks. HSI risks should be processed in the same manner and system as other program/project risks (technical, programmatic, schedule). However, human system risks may only be recognized by HSI domain and integration experts. Therefore, it may be important to document any unique procedures by which the program/project HSI integrator/team identifies, validates, prioritizes, and tracks the status of HSI-specific risks through the program/project risk management system. Management of HSI risks may be deemed the responsibility of the program’s/project’s HSI integrator/team in coordination with overall program/project risk management.

  • Ensure that potential cost, schedule, risk, and trade-off concerns with the integration of human elements (operators, maintainers, ground controllers, etc.) with the total system are identified and mitigated.
  • Ensure that safety, health, or survivability concerns that arise as the system design and implementation emerge are identified, tracked, and managed.
  • Identify and describe any risks created by limitations on the overall program/project HSI effort (time, funding, insufficient availability of information, availability of expertise, etc.).
  • Describe any unique attributes of the process by which the HSI integrator/team elevates HSI risks to program/project risks.
  • Describe any HSI-unique aspects of how human system risk mitigation strategies are deemed effective.

6.0 HSI Implementation

6.1 HSI Implementation Summary

This section summarizes the HSI implementation approach by program/project phase. This section shows how an HSI strategy for the particular program/project is planned to be tactically enabled; i.e., establishment of HSI priorities; description of specific activities, tools, and products planned to ensure HSI objectives are met; application of technology in the achievement of HSI objectives; and an HSI risk processing strategy that identifies and mitigates technical and schedule concerns when they first arise.

6.2 HSI Activities and Products

In this section, map activities, resources, and products associated with planned HSI technical implementation to each systems engineering phase of the program/project. Consideration might be given to mapping the needs and products of each HSI domain by program/project phase. Examples of HSI activities include analyses, mockup/ prototype human-in-the-loop evaluations, simulation/ modeling, participation in design and design reviews, formative evaluations, technical interchanges, and trade studies. Examples of HSI resources include acquisition of unique/specific HSI skill sets and domain expertise, facilities, equipment, test articles, specific time allocations, etc.

When activities, products, or risks are tied to life cycle reviews, they should include a description of the HSI entrance and exit criteria to clearly define the boundaries of each phase, as well as resource limitations that may be associated with each activity or product (time, funding, data availability, etc.). A high-level, summary example listing of HSI activities, products, and known risk mitigations by life cycle phase is provided in Table R.2-1.

6.3 HSI Plan Update

The HSI Plan should be updated throughout the program/project’s life cycle management and systems engineering processes at key milestones. Milestones recommended for HSI Plan updates are listed in appendix G of NPR 7123.1, NASA Systems Engineering Processes and Requirements.

HSI IMPLEMENTATION

Key Points

  • Relate HSI strategic objectives to the technical approaches planned for accomplishing these objectives.
  • Overlay HSI milestones—e.g., requirements definition, verification, known trade studies, etc.—on the program/project schedule and highlight any inconsistencies, conflicts, or other expected schedule challenges.
  • Describe how critical HSI key decision points will be dealt with as the program/project progresses through its life cycle. Indicate the plan to trace HSI key performance measures through the life cycle; i.e., from requirements to human/system functional performance allocations, through design, test, and operational readiness assessment.
  • Identify HSI-unique systems engineering processes—e.g., verification using human-in-the-loop evaluations—that may require special coordination with program/project processes.
  • As the system emerges, indicate plans to identify HSI lessons learned from the application of HSI on the program/project.
  • Include a high-level summary of the resources required.

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TABLE R.2-1 HSI Activity, Product, or Risk Mitigation by Program/Project Phase

HSI PLAN UPDATES

Key points to be addressed in each update

  • Identify the current program/project phase, the publication date of the last iteration of the HSI Plan, and the HSI Plan version number. Update the HSI Plan revision history.
  • Describe the HSI entrance criteria for the current phase and describe any unfinished work prior to the current phase.
  • Describe the HSI exit criteria for the current program/project phase and the work that must be accomplished to successfully complete the current program/project phase.

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