Close encounters of the HCI kind: An ethnography of human-centered approaches in space technology

As NASA prepares to embark on long-duration crewed space exploration, solving issues related to the design of information systems and digital interfaces become increasingly important. Such systems have to enable informed decision-making for crews, who for the first time in the history of human space exploration, will begin conducting missions autonomously from Mission Control. This change must effectively replace dozens of flight controllers and other subject matter experts who up to this point, have been able to provide problem-solving capabilities through real-time communication. This thesis presents an ethnographic exploration of astronaut autonomy by unpacking the human-centered approaches observed through sixteen months of fieldwork on teams inside and outside of NASA. Observational, interview, and archival data were synthesized and analyzed to focus on two questions: How do space systems engineers conceptualize user needs when designing useful systems to support astronaut autonomy? What is the emerging role of HCI in supporting deep space exploration? Our findings suggest that engineers display a tendency to prefer a technology-centered engineering rather than a human-centered design approach. These findings also indicate that the systems engineering skill set may an advantage in human-centered design activities when such activities are invested in upfront and incorporate user needs into requirements. Additional insights describe how system requirements are typically prioritized over user needs, and how the absence of a human-centered culture causes problems later in the development process.Master of Science in Information (MSI)School of Informationhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/168553/1/20210512_Garvin,Matthew_Final_MTOP_Thesis.pd