Ready, Set … Test | Strategic Issues, May 2011Usability testing is a concept from the software industry. It measures how effectively a product enables the end user to accomplish the goal for which the product is designed.
Usability testing has direct applications in aviation safety. Aviation safety professionals who write standard operating procedures (SOPs), special procedures and operations manuals should be as concerned with usability testing as software designers are. If a manual or procedure is unclear, verbose, poorly formatted or does not efficiently transfer information, its value as a safety tool diminishes.
Presenting information accurately the first time is important. This avoids safety managers having to present multiple revisions to clear up ambiguous data. Unfortunately, issuing hastily conceived instructions and procedures is endemic in the industry and can harm an organization’s safety culture.
Safety professionals can and should plan and conduct an aviatio…
