Rich C. McIlroy

Getting past first base: Going all the way with Cognitive Work Analysis.

This paper reports the application of Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) to the problem of communications planning in military aviation. Applications of CWA rarely get beyond the first one or two phases; this paper presents an analysis in which all five phases have been completed. The method offers a formative description of the system, defining the set of boundaries and constraints that shape system activity in terms of work domain, recurring activities, decision making, social organisation and worker competency requirements. It is an analysis that is well suited to environments in which the occurrence of unanticipated events can have serious implications for both safety and productivity. Communications planning in military aviation is such an environment. The outputs of the analysis provided an extensive and exhaustive description of the system, highlighting the uneven spread of activity, across actors involved in communications planning and across the situations in which planning can occur. In addition, a new method for informing worker competency requirements based on abstract functions rather than specific decision steps is proposed and discussed in terms of job design, interface design, and person specification.

Ecological Interface Design Two Decades On: Whatever Happened to the SRK Taxonomy?

Since first receiving attention in the literature almost 25 years ago, ecological interface design has been applied to a wide variety of man-machine systems across a range of domains. The design framework has its theoretical basis in Gibsonian ecological psychology, and its founding principles draw heavily on Jens Rasmussens skills, rules, and knowledge (SRK) taxonomy. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the frameworks applications since Vicente and Rasmussens 1992 seminal article detailing the theoretical foundations of the method. There is variation in terms of both the use of the two fundamental components of the method as it was first described, and how it has been supplemented with other phases of the cognitive work analysis; this review highlights these variations with regard to how the design framework has been applied and how these applications have been reported in the literature. The importance of the SRK taxonomy to the framework is specifically discussed following the finding that 40% of reviewed applications do not cite this component despite its centrality to ecological interface design. Attention is drawn to the methods flexibility and adaptability, to its contribution to the content and form of an interface, and a point is made about the importance of being clear and consistent when reporting how the method has been applied and, where appropriate, adapted.

Following the cognitive work analysis train of thought: exploring the constraints of modal shift to rail transport

Environmental concerns show that transport is responsible for almost a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions, and it is also the fastest growing sector. Modal shift towards public transport could help slow down, or even reverse, this trend. There appear to be a number of constraints that are preventing this from happening. This paper explores the constraints to modal shift to rail transport from the perspective of cognitive work analysis, specifically the abstraction hierarchy, the contextual activity template and social organisational and cooperation analyses. Whilst these analyses may not present any new barriers, they do show how the constraints are interlinked in an explicit manner. These interrelations are important for two reasons. First, in consideration of constraint removal, one must anticipate the likely effects on the remainder of the system. Second, by linking functions and situations, new concepts of travel may be identified and explored. Practitioner Summary: The purpose of this study was to use a semi-structured approach to identifying constraints to modal shift from a variety of perspectives. It is argued that cognitive work analysis offers a new way of thinking about the modal shift problem and helps to generate new insights into potential solutions.

Designing mission communication planning: the role of Rich Pictures and Cognitive Work Analysis

Typically, Ergonomics does not have much to offer design of new systems, it either focuses on the analysis of existing systems or evaluated new systems, leaving design to the imagination of the designer. The research reported in this article considered how the gap between Ergonomics and design may be bridged, focusing on a new approach to communications planning for military platforms. Contemporary communication planning software is overly complex and difficult to learn to use. As a result, much of the functionality of these systems goes unused and the planning process is not as efficient as it could be. To tackle these problems, a new approach of combining Rich Pictures with Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) was used; Rich Pictures revealed how users understand their work and how CWA identified the system constraints. The Rich Pictures were used to inspire the proposed new systems. Social Organisation and Cooperation Analysis-Contextual Activity Template (SOCA-CAT) from CWA and simulated task performance were then used to compare current and proposed systems. SOCA-CAT showed that the proposed system would make better use of the user’s activity and simulated task performance showed that the new system would be more efficient. Feedback from the users suggested that the proposed system would result in better communication plans which would be completed in less time and with fewer errors than the current system.

Specifying the requirements for requirements specification: the case for Work Domain and Worker Competencies Analyses

This article presents an argument for the applicability of Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA), particularly Work Domain and Worker Competencies Analyses, in supporting the requirements specification process for the acquisition of bespoke, socio-technical systems. We argue that the outputs of CWA should be included within requirements specification documents as they provide a comprehensive system model, in terms of constraints, opportunities and functional relationships, that would not be possible to represent in the current style of text-based requirements documents, and that communicating required system architectures to system designers is more effective using the graphical-based representations of CWA than by text alone. We also argue that the collaborative and iterative process of conducting a CWA should be continually performed throughout the acquisition cycle, involving Human Factors specialists, prospective end-users and subject matter experts.

Developing expertise in military communications planning: do verbal reports change with experience?

The purpose of this study was to investigate novices learning to use a mission planning system. Novice participants received one training session, followed by three test sessions. This was compared to expert performance. During the test sessions, all participants were required to ‘think aloud’, based on Ericsson and Simons (Ericsson, K.A. and Simon, H.A., 1993. Protocol analysis: verbal reports as data. Revised ed. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press) description of the technique. Objective measures of time to complete the task, number of errors made, mouse travel and number of mouse clicks were also recorded. It was hypothesised that error, time and mouse data would reflect the acquisition of skill and improved problem-solving abilities. The verbal data were analysed in an exploratory fashion to see what changes individuals experienced. The results of the study showed that participants acquired a level of skill across sessions, and that the cognitive processes reflected in the verbal protocols changed as a function of this skill acquisition. These changes in cognitive processing mirrored a number of the differences between novices and experts.

Sustainability, transport and design: reviewing the prospects for safely encouraging eco-driving

Private vehicle use contributes a disproportionately large amount to the degradation of the environment we inhabit. Technological advancement is of course critical to the mitigation of climate change, however alone it will not suffice; we must also see behavioural change. This paper will argue for the application of Ergonomics to the design of private vehicles, particularly low-carbon vehicles (e.g. hybrid and electric), to encourage this behavioural change. A brief review of literature is offered concerning the effect of the design of a technological object on behaviour, the inter-related nature of goals and feedback in guiding performance, the effect on fuel economy of different driving styles, and the various challenges brought by hybrid and electric vehicles, including range anxiety, workload and distraction, complexity, and novelty. This is followed by a discussion on the potential applicability of a particular design framework, namely Ecological Interface Design, to the design of in-vehicle interfaces that encourage energy-conserving driving behaviours whilst minimising distraction and workload, thus ensuring safety.

Encouraging Eco-Driving With Visual, Auditory, and Vibrotactile Stimuli

This paper presents an experimental evaluation of an in-vehicle eco-driving support system that provided auditory, visual, and vibrotactile stimuli for the discouragement of harsh accelerations, and to encourage maximization of the duration of the coasting phase of the vehicle. Behavior when driving normally was compared to that exhibited when participants were asked to drive economically, and to that exhibited when provided with feedback in the three sensory modes, individually and in all combinations thereof. Results suggest that participants were already aware that harsh accelerations are to be avoided when eco-driving; however, additional eco-driving support, particularly that which involved the auditory and haptic modalities, further discouraged these behaviors. The eco-driving information also supported significantly greater coasting distances (when approaching slowing events), a behavior not spontaneously produced by participants when asked to drive economically. Few differences were seen between the effects of the different modes and combinations; however, results taken together suggest that visual-only information may be less effective at encouraging compliance across all participants. The auditory stimulus, although it encouraged compliance, was not well received by participants.

What do people know about eco-driving?

Abstract An online survey of 321 respondents revealed that the majority of people are aware of eco-driving and have a positive attitude towards it. Although the types of eco-driving tips offered by respondents, and their potential effect on fuel consumption, were in line with those found in the popular and academic literature, knowledge of specific fuel saving behaviours was generally low. Relationships were found between environmental attitudes and knowledge of, and propensity to perform eco-driving behaviours; however, these relationships were weak, indicating that neither pro-environmental attitudes nor knowledge of eco-driving behaviours is strongly indicative of actual eco-driving performance. Males were found to be more knowledgeable of the means for driving in a fuel-efficient manner than females; however, no effect was found for either age or level of general education. Results are discussed in terms of the challenges and opportunities for encouraging eco-driving, and the necessity for both governmental and industry involvement. Practitioner Summary: To successfully encourage the uptake of eco-driving (e.g. through policy, training and feedback) it is first necessary to understand how the general public perceives it, and what they already know of it. This survey study addresses this by looking at relationships between environmental attitudes and knowledge, and specific eco-driving measures.

Observing the observer: non-intrusive verbalisations using the Concurrent Observer Narrative Technique

This paper presents the application of, and a discussion about, a new method of information acquisition, the Concurrent Observer Narrative Technique (CONT), that requires an expert to narrate the work of experienced colleagues. The method is explored through a case study of instructors in a training simulation environment. The method involves multiple expert users of the system equally matched in experience; one or more of which perform the task at hand, namely running the training session, whilst another, not engaged in the training activity, provides verbal reports whilst observing task progression. All are situated in the work environment concurrently. The method is discussed in terms of the richness and detail of the data obtained from the reports and in terms of some advantages and disadvantages over other verbal reporting methods, specifically collegial verbalisation (Jansson et al. in Cogn Tech Work 8:41–49, 2006) and Elicitation By Critiquing (Miller et al. in Cogn Tech Work 8: 90–102, 2006). It is argued that the CONT provides a relatively easy, inexpensive, and non-intrusive method that can supply a wealth of information that does not require further interpretation and that the method is of particular applicability in domains where the subject matter expert is unable to provide concurrent verbalisations themselves and where the subject matter is too complex to be understood by a lay person.