Guidelines for a mobile tool to address human factors issues in aircraft maintenance

Highly specialised personnel are dependent on others and diverse systems to perform error-free aircraft maintenance. Research has shown that the maintenance process can be improved to reduce errors and increase usability by using a mobile tool. The goal of this project was to draw on theories of user-centred design to explore what human factors issues for maintenance personnel can be addressed by a mobile tool to make the most out of maintenance planning, execution and follow-up. Military aircraft maintenance personnel at an air force unit were interviewed and observed. The following six problem areas that could be improved by the use of a mobile tool were identified: several information sources must constantly be consulted; information is constantly transferred between different locations and media types; technical documentation can be inconsistent and hard to access; there are strict hierarchies and certifications of personnel; the means of recording and transferring communicative information are insufficient; and there can be a long lag time for updates, error reporting and feedback of actions. A correctly designed mobile tool could solve these problems by combining all the information sources and recording relevant maintenance information.