Modelling and analysis of human work situations as a basis for design of human-computer interfaces

Abstract: Many work situations in health care can be described as the control of dynamic processes. In order to design human-computer interfaces dedicated to a specific work situation there is a need to analyse not only the information contents but also the way the information is used. Reading from a screen instead of from a paper is different and in many ways more effortful. By incorporating theories of human cognition in the methods for analyses of work situations it is possible to understand what makes certain ways of reading from paper so extremely efficient. With this knowledge human-computer interfaces can be designed in a way which enables the user to benefit from the same effective ways of reading as when reading from papers. Paper 1 describes an analysis of the way physicians read a paper-based medical record. Paper 2 describes how a human-computer interface for reading the medical record is designed based on this analysis. Paper 3 describes a study of how doctors and nurses read documents in intensive care. It shows that pattern recognition and encoding of the characteristics of the information media is an effective way of gaining knowledge. Paper 4 describes the work in an intensive care unit seen as the control of a dynamic process where the documentation is an effective tool for among other things, coordination of actions and observations in time. Paper 5 gives a summary of the underlying ideas of the methods used.