Challenge

The following is the project brief we received from NASA before work began. As we began research, our focus shifted slightly as we learned more about the breakdowns in problem-reporting at NASA. For instance, our project brief describes an interface and device focused on NASA technicians, but we later decided to build a separate device for technicians, quality assurance, and engineers. The NASA team was kept in close communication through every stage of our project and approved every change that was made.

For the 2007 Masters of HCI Project, we would like to sponsor a student team to work on an adaptation of NASA's new Problem Reporting and Corrective Action (PRACA) system for hand-held devices. PRACA systems are used across NASA centers and contractors to track problems and manage knowledge related to problems and, more generally, risk. PRACA users range from high-level managers making launch/no launch decisions to work-floor technicians who are often the first line of discovery with respect to problems. It is these work-floor technicians that we would like to focus on with this project. Their job is build, maintain and repair spacecraft. At the same time, they need to capture the problems, non-conformances, process-escapes, and requirement-deviations they encounter. Currently, this is largely done on paper. The paper reports are later entered by someone else in the local PRACA system.

For Shuttle and Space Station there is no unified PRACA system. There are many different systems where problem information is entered, both within and across centers. For the next generation space vehicle that will replace the shuttle (Orion) in 2014, the plan is to have one PRACA system across the agency. Although 2014 seems far away, the numerous flight tests are starting now. The first test flight, called Ares I-1, will fly in 2009. Work has already started toward this and other tests at various NASA centers. Kennedy Space Center, for example, will be responsible for Ground Operations for the first test flight, as well as for the eventual Orion missions. They, along with Marshall Space Flight Center, Johnson Space Center, Langley Research Center, Goddard Research Center, Dryden Flight Research Center and Glenn Research Center, will need to start working with one PRACA system in early 2007. Since developing an entire PRACA system is a long process, an Interim PRACA system, designed and developed by the HCI Group at Ames Research Center has been selected for initial problem reporting. It is our hope that this system will be a key component of the final system supporting the Orion mission for the next 30 years across the agency.

project description

The student project would involve the design of a version of the Ames PRACA system to support the entering of problem data when a person is not in front of a console. Technicians, on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center or at the Michoud Assembly Facility (where the solid-rocket boosters are assembled) need to be able to enter information about problems they encounter as accurately and efficiently as possible. This is not the case today. The student team will make one or two trips to NASA facilities where potential users of hand-held PRACA systems work. They will also work locally in Pittsburgh to understand the use of problem tracking systems in industrial settings. Most large companies and organizations track problems in one way or another. It is one of the key elements in managing risk.

proposed work

During the spring semester, the project group will conduct user research and propose design concepts. In the summer semester, the group will reside at Ames Research Center, where they will prototype solutions derived from their collected user research and conduct user tests to verify their designs. During the summer, there will be a set of Operational Readiness Tests (ORTs), to monitor progress and prepare for the final presentation and demonstration at the end of the summer.

During the user research phase, the students will gather data relevant for both problem reporting and using handhelds for data access and collection during daily work. Their goal will be to understand how it is currently done in a variety of contexts such as software development companies, hardware manufacturing, and facility maintenance. Other occupations that use handheld devices that may be of interest include package delivery, warehouse inventory controllers and rental car personnel. Just a few of the locations in and around Pittsburgh which may have relevant user data are power plants, factories, warehouses, and any kind of airplane/emergency vehicle maintenance facilities. The students will travel to various NASA centers to observe how engineers and maintenance technicians are tracking problem data.

In addition to conducting research during the first semester, the project group will work with various handheld devices in order to determine the best device to use for the project. Once a decision on which handheld device is made, NASA will supply such a handheld for the remainder of the project.

Students will deliver reports based on their research including Contextual Inquiries, User Interviews, and Observations. They'll deliver ongoing status and activity reporting during our weekly call and online (i.e., blogging). At the end of the spring semester, students will deliver a summary presentation, a trade analysis of various handheld devices, a report of their work to date, as well as design concepts and visualizations.

By the end of the spring semester, the project group will have selected a handheld platform and begun initial prototyping of preliminary solutions. The group will then spend the summer at Ames Research Center in California, prototyping, iterating and validating the design though user testing.

At the end of the summer semester, the students will participate in a Challenge designed to simulate the motivations and activities involved in the handheld version of Problem Reporting and Corrective Action. For the NASA PRACA Project, a working prototype is expected by the end of the summer. The results of this project will support the NASA Ames HCI Team's ongoing efforts to provide tools for the Constellation Program, which is will evolve the new crew exploration vehicle to replace shuttle over the next eight years.

Supervising the MHCI Capstone Project

The NASA Ames HCI Group has supported five Capstone Project groups since 2001. The group, composed of many CMU MHCI graduates, will provide a good environment for the project. They will provide support, as necessary, for design, prototyping and technical issues with respect to communicating with the existing PRACA system, as well as the selected handheld device. Appropriate Independent Studies will be developed and supervised for students requiring additional course credits during the summer.

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