The UX of Bioastronautics
Bioastronautics is a focus area of aerospace engineering that specializes in the study and support of life in space. This area of research spans the biological, behavioral, medical and material domains of living organisms in spaceflight. Increasingly, it’s also being applied to space habitat environments. And while the body of research spans decades, there is little information available regarding the user experience. I’d like to change that.
Up until recently, the emphasis has been on pushing the bounds of what’s technologically possible and making it work. And to a large extent, this will continue to be true. However, we are on the precipice of a new frontier in which bioastronautics is open to the input of user experience research and design. To optimize the design for the users rather than train the users on how to use the design.
Below I’ve outlined several gaps in HCI research related to bioastronautics that NASA has identified as presenting a risk to astronauts.
From NASA’s 2013 Evidence Report: Risk of Inadequate HCI, research gaps include:
- Methods for improving human-centered design activities and processes
- Tools to improve HCI, information presentation/acquisition/processing, and decision making for a highly autonomous environment
- Tools, methods, and metrics which support the allocation of attention and multitasking for individuals and teams
- Validation methods for human performance models
Evidence collected in this report details contributing factors that are pertinent for the investigation by the HCI researcher. These include:
- Requirements, policies, and design processes
- Informational resources/support
- Allocation of attention
- Cognitive overload
- Environmentally induced perceptual changes
- Misperception/misinterpretation of the displayed information
- Spatial disorientation
- Design of displays and controls
I’m a graduate student studying Information Science at the University of Michigan and the Usability Testing Coordinator for CLAWS (Collaborative Lab for Advancing Work in Space). My role is as a UX/UI specialist involved in the research and design of ATLAS (Augmented Toolkit for Lunar Astronauts and Scientists) to compete in NASA design challenges, SUITS, and M2M X-Hab.
Bioastronautics research is still primarily engaged with human factors research dedicated to hardware and industrial design. The application of HCI is lacking, which is why the CLAWS team began actively recruiting from UMSI. The bulk of the team is composed of aerospace, mechanical and industrial engineering, as well as computer science majors.
To implement the human-centered design strategy, I would start by conducting an ethnographic study through participant observation and contextual inquiry with my team to better understand the culture of bioastronautics. Placing more emphasis on HITL as simulated usability testing, I’ll be seeking to validate our methods both in the BLiSS lab and remotely. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and self-isolation, we’ve had to scrap my HITL plan and I’m currently in the process of adapting a prototype in XD for remote usability and heuristic testing. Below is a cursory view of the design.
Interestingly, our self-isolation presents an opportunity to better understand the sort of issues astronauts will face in space. After all, astronauts on the Moon cannot conduct in-person meetings with ground control. This is specifically one of the target opportunities for HCI concerning the bioastronautics of space travel and exploration. Astronauts on future EVA missions will not be in constant contact with ground control as they have been up to now. Information systems, therefore, need to be designed to maximize autonomy and optimize information processing while simultaneously reducing cognitive load.
A pertinent example is the GeoNotes protocol we are currently working on. The Artemis generation astronauts are not geologists, save one. But they still need to be able to conduct high-quality lunar sampling and take sufficient field notes for planetary scientists back on Earth, so our task has been to design a geological sampling protocol that supports the needs of the Earth-based scientists as well as the autonomous astronaut.
Astronauts are cyborgs. They are the people for whom the term was coined. “For the exogenously extended organization complex functioning as an integrated homeostatic system unconsciously, we propose the term ‘Cyborg’.” — Manfred E. Clynes and Nathan S. Kline
I come from a background in Anthropology. Four field Anthropology. This is the common format of American Anthropology, and it proposes holism through an equal understanding of a person and groups of people by researching humans through biological, cultural, linguistic, and archaeological, or material contexts. What initially drew me to the field of Information is first and foremost, the interdisciplinary approach. Drawing on my background in Anthropology, I have a penchant for synthesis. Next, I came across a TedTalk by Amber Case, “We are all cyborgs now.”
Amber’s argument is that because we are storing whole swathes of our brains, creating alternate identities, and communicating with each other through digital technologies, we are all cyborgs now. I also hold this view.
Everything humans do regarding actually leaving Earth’s atmosphere and spending increasing lengths of time in space or on extraterrestrial bodies is in the realm of bioastronautics. All of that technology, from spacesuits to the shuttle, is concerned with supporting life in space. The body of research into the topic thus far has primarily centered around hardware and industrial or mechanical design and engineering. Increasingly, an emphasis on HCI needs to be made to close research gaps identified by NASA and provide adequate UX to end-users as humans seek to spread out and begin colonizing our solar system.
