ANdLYSlS FOR lNCORfORATllNG HUMAN FACTORS IN WE SOFTWARE LIFECYCLE

Traditional software development breaks the software project into individual components that each perform specific functions in the process of putting together a software product [l, 9, 13, 18, 19, 23, 24, 27, 29, 31, 34, 351. With the advent of new program development tools and the growing importance of human factors issues in the design and building of software, this accepted way of managing software development has given way to new ways of thinking about the process. In particular, because human factors issues arise at several of the stages and prototypes of the proposed system can be tested long before the final system is in place, many levels of design iteration are now introduced into the development process [7, 8, 171. These added methods enhance the software product and help ensure its acceptance, in addition to reducing the product’s maintenance [26, 301. Thus, their inclusion is a justified and natural evolution of the software development process. Unfortunately, these methods also add to the dollar cost and the completion time of software projects. We will concentrate on the issue of when to include these techniques. An overview of those places within the traditional software development plan where human factors issues are treated, and the type of human factors work that applies will be discussed. Once the techniques are demonstrated, the costs are calculated using models similar to COCOMO