Usability and Information access challenges in complex simulation models

Abstract

There has been a paradigm shift in recent years from efficient techniques of accessing data to effective information access. The challenge facing researchers working in information access is how to help users easily locate the information needed. One of the most affected groups of software classes are simulation modeling tools. This problem is further compounded by the fact that the model developers are not necessarily the model users and as such can hardly perceive how the users will interact and react to the operational model. Developers have in mind effectiveness, efficiency, and user satisfaction when developing the software and seldom address human– computer interaction. This means that very good software models then fail to deliver to their capacities due to challenges in the complexity of the model interfaces. In this paper the authors review the information access challenges by applying the software usability metrics to operational simulation tool currently being used and constantly being modified at the DPSS for simulating defence systems