Excellent idea Andy
I totally agree with your comments. Now we have got the mechanics of it working reasonably well we need to concentrate on making it more intuitive and on producing a good user guide. (irreverent idea, let's call it a "Briefing Handbook", - blast, they're already using that for something which is nothing of the sort
).
Unfortunately there are a number of problem areas here:-
1. The naturally defensive position adopted by anyone when criticism is made of the work they have done. I don't think we have that problem with AIS themselves, but I suspect that there are those within other areas of NATS and within Thales IS (the software vendors) who still can't understand what we are banging on about)
2. It is VERY difficult to write a user guide that is clear, unambiguous, and easily understood by the reader. Engineers are not usually the best people to write them, which is why there is a market for technical authors.
3. The same problem as 2. also applies to the design of the user interface and prompts.
4. Changes to the software involve both Thales IS and NATS support services, whose time has to be paid for out of the AIS budget.
All of this takes time and money to do well. NATS already had a problem with the costs and delays of Swanwick and, post 9/11, have a greatly reduced income stream so cash is at a premium.
I suspect that those who hold the purse strings might be saying "well it works fine now, if only the bu**ers would read the instructions and learn how to use it."
AIS themselves have had to cope with introducing new systems, while at the same time continuing to run the old legacy systems, with no additional resources. They have still not managed to kill off the old systems so the workload is still high and I know they are also suffering staff shortages through illness.
None of the above is an excuse for getting it wrong in the first place, but it does perhaps explain some of the reasons for delay and I hope it aids understanding.
As you know AIS staff are not permitted to post on the forums so their side doesn't get heard. In my view they really do want to improve things but they have to work within the resource that is available to them. I hope this will come across during the visit on 12 June.
If we can get the rest of NATS and Thales enthused with the idea of excellence and customer satisfaction it will help a lot.
They do read what gets posted here.
Mike