Usability Study of the Department of Defense Joint Analysis System

The Department of Defense (DoD) uses modeling and simulation as a primary tool to plan future operations and facilitate decision making. Simulations help decision makers analyze a scenario and make decisions based on the simulated outcomes. The purpose of this project is to apply the systems design process (SDP), developed and utilized extensively at the United States Military Academy, in the form of a usability study of one of DoD´s newest campaign level simulations. The joint analysis system (JAS), formerly known as the joint warfare simulation (JWARS), is the first campaign analysis tool to incorporate all three services of the military. The most obvious benefit of JAS over the separate service models is the explicit modeling of the interdependencies that exist between the services. It also incorporates a theater level logistics model not found in any other service model. Even with its added benefits, the separate service analytic communities have been slow to adopt JAS as the simulation of choice for campaign level analysis. One fear is that JAS run scenarios may show a service, organization or major weapon system as being less integral to a campaign´s success than previously believed. Since scenarios are typically forecasting likely campaigns 15-20 years in the future, this could lead to major changes in service funding. There are also issues pertaining to the overhead involved with learning a new simulation and a resistance to change from the model they are already familiar with using. In an effort to increase the user base, the focus of this project was to develop a tutorial that shows the basic functionality of JAS utilizing an unclassified campaign level scenario. A usability study was performed at the undergraduate level to analyze ease of use and understanding of the simulation based on information learned in the tutorial. The objective is to pass this tutorial along to the other service academies and DoD analytic agencies.