Usability and Performance Testing of Hand-held Data-entry Devices for Navy Shipboard Damage Control and Fire-fighting Environments

Portable, hand-held, data-entry devices were evaluated for intended use by shipboard engineering repair team personnel for improving on-scene casualty reporting of damage control and fire-fighting efforts. Current on-scene reporting methods use pre-formatted damage control messages, hand carried from the scene of the casualty to the repair lockers, and often rely on two-way radios for rapid transmission of critical casualty information. During the initial reporting period, this process is often confusing, time-late, and sometimes ambiguous or error-prone. Five off-the-shelf data entry devices were tested for usability and performance for data input and display of casualty information in a laboratory setting at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, with follow-on field testing done by damage control and fire-fighting personnel assigned to Fleet Training Center, San Diego and Detachment Treasure Island and the Afloat Training Group, Pacific. Demonstration of these devices, lessons learned on usability testing and building of cooperative research networks between users and the training community will be described.