Electronic Flight and Technical Manual Design Guidelines

Abstract : The United States military is dedicated to improving processes associated with electronic manuals including generation, dissemination, and utilization of manuals used for reference while working. In this case, electronic manuals refer to both manuals used in flight (electronic flight manuals), and manuals used in support of maintaining aircraft (electronic technical manuals). Among those military organizations working in this area, The United States Air Force (USAF) has been a leader in many of the challenging discussions surrounding the complex issues associated with creating electronic manuals, distributing those manuals to thousands of users, and ensuring that those user populations can effectively navigate through and manipulate the information to support the task at hand. The purpose, therefore, of this document is to provide an up-to-date framework for the display of both electronic flight manuals (EFM) and Interactive Electronic Technical Manuals (IETM) data within a common web browser interface. Structurally, this document will review literature and provide a source of guidance relevant to the display of electronic flight and technical manual information. Each design guideline leverages knowledge gained in the field of user interface design. Guidance is provided first through an overview of the process that should be taken to successfully implement a user interface. Then detailed guidance is provided in terms of why it is important to consider various points and how to address the given issue through constructive design practices.