Onboard Context-Sensitive Information System

This chapter explains the transition from paper-based documentation to electronic systems that help pilots perform procedures to ensure safety, efficiency, and comfort on commercial aircraft. This transition includes considering context-sensitivity as a significant topic. This is why the Onboard Context-Sensitive Information System (OCSIS) has been developed and tested in various human-in-the-loop simulations, in normal, abnormal, and emergency situations. OCSIS includes operational information on flight, system, performance, and navigation. It is implemented as a three-level information structure with hyperlinks. OCSIS is developed on an iPad using a high-level knowledge representation for procedures and checklists called interactive blocks or iBlocks. OCSIS was tested with professional pilots on the flight deck of a Boeing 737 simulator. Results showed that OCSIS can be usable and valuable for operational information access and provides other features that paper-based documents lack. OCSIS was incrementally designed, and a prototype was developed using an agile approach involving formative evaluations. It is an example of successful human–systems integration.