Assessing Efficiency and Cognitive Load in Form Navigation for Operators in Combat Management Systems

Abstract: In naval warfare, warships often need to perform several tasks simultaneously in an unpredictable fast-paced environment. Combat-related tasks are performed by operators in a Naval Combat Management System (NCMS). The challenging environment places high demands on the operators’ ability to work efficiently. When handling multiple tasks at once, efficient navigation between forms is critical. The main purpose of this study is to examine how efficiency and cognitive load are affected in menu navigation when using a search function compared to a hierarchical menu. The study let 6 test subjects perform tasks in a Google Drive file system by using either a hierarchical menu or a search function. The file system was constructed to resemble the menu structure of Saab’s NCMS named 9LV. Based on previous research, the cognitive load and efficiency were determined by measuring time and number of errors on dual tasks, where the main task consisted of playing Tetris and the secondary was to find information from the file system to fill in a form, using each of the navigation methods. The results of this research showed that the task completion time was lower when using the search function. The number of errors on the main task was higher when using the hierarchical menu while the search function induced more errors on the secondary task. In addition, the study will also evaluate if it is financially beneficial for the client to implement a search function into its NCMS user interface. The method used for this evaluation is a Cost-benefit analysis (CBA). The results show that the economic value of the estimated increase in customer satisfaction is greater than the estimated opportunity costs related to implementing the search function into the software.