JSP 912: Human Factors Integration in Defence Systems (Parts 1 and 2)
When to use
Prerequisites: none required; plain Markdown. Familiarity with defence acquisition lifecycles (CADMID, business cases) helps; glossary.md defines MOD-specific terms.
Use this skill for questions about how UK Defence mandates and runs Human Factors Integration: what HFI is and how it differs from Human Factors Engineering, how it sits inside systems engineering and the Defence Lines of Development, the six HFI process stages (HFI-1.0 through HFI-6.0), tailoring, and the six MOD staff roles that carry it. It is a policy-and-process pack; it does not cover the Defence safety management system (use jsp-815), acquisition safety policy (use jsp-376), or dependable-AI direction (use jsp-936).
Source: Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. JSP 912 Human Factors Integration in Defence Systems, Part 1 Directive and Part 2 Guidance, V3.0 (March 2024), Ministry of Defence, Crown copyright. Reconstructed reference notes, not reproductions; licence text and source link in LICENSE.
How to Use This Skill
- Without arguments: read Core Frameworks & Mental Models below.
- With a topic: use the Topic Index and follow the arrow to a chapter.
- With a role or stage-gate question: use the Chapter Index and read the matching chapter.
- For a term use
glossary.md; for a stage gate or role usecheatsheet.md.
Core Frameworks & Mental Models
What HFI is (Part 1, echoed in Part 2)
HFI is a management activity: a systematic process for identifying, tracking and resolving people-related considerations so the technological and human aspects of capability develop in balance. Human Factors is the science, Human Factors Engineering is its design application, and HFI is the management process over both, organised through five domains: Personnel, Training, Human Factors Engineering, System Safety & Health Hazards, and Organisational & Social. MOD policy applies HFI to every defence acquisition activity, Development Item, Non-Development Item, Off-The-Shelf, demonstrators and upgrades alike, with scope set by risk, not exemption.
Six stage gates across the lifecycle (Part 2)
The process runs in six top-level stages: HFI-1.0 User Need Definition and HFI-2.0 System Requirements Definition before contract, HFI-3.0 Assess Tenders at selection, HFI-4.0 Detailed System Design under contract, HFI-5.0 Test and Acceptance per the ITEA Plan, and HFI-6.0 In-Service Feedback through life. Seven goals govern every activity, from RAIDO management from the outset to formal acceptance of people-related aspects.
Tailoring keeps it proportionate (Parts 1 and 2)
Tailoring is the process of setting the range and depth of HFI activities against scope, size, complexity, lifecycle phase and contractual arrangements. It starts internally before Outline Business Case, informed by the Early Human Factors Analysis, is re-tested at tender preparation, and is revisited jointly after contract award, with MOD holding the final decision and the HFI Policy team agreeing every tailoring. Detail is tailorable; whole stages are not.
Six roles carry the work (Parts 1 and 2)
Project Team Leader holds prime responsibility; the HFI Focus splits into HFIF(Cap) before contract and HFIF(PT) inside the project team; the Requirements Manager translates user requirements into system requirements; the Capability Sponsor owns the programme level; the CIWG integrates across DLODs; and the HFI Support Function (the DE&S HFI Policy team) agrees tailoring and assures application. Everyone undertaking HFI is SQEP, with human-participant research governed by JSP 536, which is named here but not reproduced.
Chapter Index
| Ch | Chapter | Sources | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | ch01-what-is-hfi-and-why-defence-mandates-it.md | Part 1 pp. 1-4 + Part 2 pp. 1-6 | What HFI is, HF vs HFE, the five HFI domains, the mandate, the Human Component of Capability. |
| 02 | ch02-roles-and-responsibilities.md | Part 1 pp. 7-8 + Part 2 pp. 45-47 | The six MOD staff roles, the two HFI Focus posts, requirements management and the Golden Thread. |
| 03 | ch03-hfi-and-systems-engineering.md | Part 2 pp. 4-6, 10-12 | HFI inside systems engineering, DLOD considerations, System Readiness Levels with HFI as a driver. |
| 04 | ch04-hfi-process-goals-activities-tailoring.md | Part 1 pp. 5-6 + Part 2 pp. 7-9, 41-44 | Seven process goals, six stage overview, tailoring regime, project types (DI, NDI, OTS). |
| 05 | ch05-user-need-and-system-requirements.md | Part 2 pp. 13-22 | HFI-1.0 User Need Definition and HFI-2.0 System Requirements Definition: EHFA, RAIDO register, HFUR/HFSR/HFPR. |
| 06 | ch06-assess-tenders-hfi-3-0.md | Part 2 pp. 23-24 | HFI-3.0 Assess Tenders: tenderer's HFI Plan, five assessment criteria, independent design analysis. |
| 07 | ch07-detailed-system-design-hfi-4-0.md | Part 2 pp. 25-33 | HFI-4.0 Detailed System Design: HFI Working Group, joint RAIDO management, conduct of activities, deliverables. |
| 08 | ch08-test-acceptance-in-service-feedback.md | Part 2 pp. 34-40 | HFI-5.0 Test and Acceptance and HFI-6.0 In-Service Feedback: ITEA, VVRM, design freeze, lessons through life. |
| 09 | ch09-competencies-ethics-conduct.md | Part 1 p. 9 + Part 2 pp. 48-49 | SQEP requirements, Awareness and Practitioner levels, CIEHF membership, JSP 536 research ethics, codes of conduct. |
Topic Index
- Human Factors Integration (HFI): definition and mandate → ch01
- Human component of capability and integration duties → ch01
- HFI domains (Personnel, Training, HFE, System Safety & Health Hazards, Organisational & Social) → ch01
- Human Factors Engineering and domain coupling → ch01, ch03
- Systems engineering alignment and ISO/IEC 15288 → ch03
- Defence Lines of Development (DLOD) considerations → ch03
- System Readiness Levels (SRL) and HFI maturity → ch03
- Stage gate HFI-1.0 User Need Definition → ch05
- Stage gate HFI-2.0 System Requirements Definition → ch05
- Stage gate HFI-3.0 Assess Tenders → ch06
- Stage gate HFI-4.0 Detailed System Design → ch07
- Stage gate HFI-5.0 Test and Acceptance → ch08
- Stage gate HFI-6.0 In-Service Feedback → ch08
- HFI goals and process activities → ch04
- Tailoring and project types (DI, NDI, OTS/MOTS) → ch04
- Roles: Project Team Leader, HFI Focus, Requirements Manager, Capability Sponsor, CIWG, HFI Support Function → ch02
- HFI RAIDO Register and requirements types (HFUR, HFSR, HFPR) → ch05, ch07
- HFI Working Group and HFI Steering Group → ch05, ch07
- Competencies, SQEP and CIEHF membership → ch09
- Research ethics and conduct (JSP 536, BPS, CIEHF codes) → ch09
- Test evidence, ITEA Plan and VVRM → ch08
- In-service lessons and Learning from Experience → ch03, ch08
- Policy interfaces to JSP 375, JSP 536, JSP 815, JSP 822 and Def Stan 00-251 → ch01, ch09
Supporting Files
glossary.md: terms and acronyms the source defines or characterises, alphabetical, with the chapters that use each.cheatsheet.md: the six stage gates (HFI-1.0 through HFI-6.0) and six roles in prose.
Scope & Limits
- Source version: JSP 912 Human Factors Integration in Defence Systems, Part 1 Directive and Part 2 Guidance, V3.0 (March 2024); vetted 2026-10-28 against the publication page and both PDFs (Part 1 16 pages, Part 2 65 pages).
- Coverage: HFI in UK Defence acquisition only. This pack is process and policy, not a technical handbook, and contains no figures or page images from the source.
- Not the Defence SMS: safety management system obligations live in JSP 815; use the
jsp-815pack. Not reproduced here. - Not acquisition-safety policy: use
jsp-376for that. Not reproduced here. - Not dependable-AI direction: use
jsp-936for that. Not reproduced here. - Other publications named, not quoted: JSP 375, JSP 536, JSP 815, JSP 822, Def Stan 00-251, Def Stan 23-009, Def Stan 00-600, ISO/IEC 15288 and other standards are named for navigation only; consult each directly for its requirements.
- Not official MOD guidance: reconstructed reference notes with no official status and no MOD endorsement. Source identification and licence only in LICENSE.
