This study aims to evaluate the impact of cockpit instrument layout philosophy on pilot operational efficiency and cognitive workload within the context of EASA CS-27 regulations and future urban air mobility (UAM) requirements. It seeks to integrate “Human-in-the-Loop” criteria into multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) frameworks to inform safer interface designs for next-generation rotorcraft.
A virtual reality simulation using the HTC Vive Pro Eye system was developed to test three instrument panel configurations: shuffled (random placement), mission-based (functional grouping) and importance-based (criticality ranking). Data was collected from seven highly qualified aviation experts, primarily test pilots with approximately 10,000 flight hours each. Performance was assessed through automated task completion timing (quantitative) and semistructured expert interviews (qualitative).
Quantitative analysis revealed that structured layouts provided substantial performance gains over the baseline. The importance-based layout achieved the fastest performance (14.8% improvement), followed by the mission-based layout (11.2% improvement). Furthermore, structured layouts reduced performance variability (standard deviation) by approximately 50%, indicating higher predictability and safety. Expert feedback suggests that while importance-based layouts favor emergency response, a hybrid design is optimal for maintaining procedural flow in UAM operations.
The findings provide actionable design guidelines for avionics manufacturers, suggesting that cockpit interfaces for single-pilot UAM operations should prioritize importance-based hierarchy to mitigate cognitive saturation, independent of extensive pilot training.
Unlike studies relying on novice participants, this research leverages expert-based heuristic evaluation from high-experience test pilots to provide high-fidelity insights. It offers empirical evidence connecting abstract MDO principles with practical certification standards (CS-27), proposing a validated pathway for designing intuitive cockpits for the emerging eVTOL and UAM sectors.
