Designing Work Support Systems – For and With Skilled Users

Abstract: Computer users often suffer from poorly designed support systems that hinder them from performing their work efficiently and with satisfaction. The evidence is found in observations of users at work, interviews, evaluations of systems, and numerous reports of systems with poor usability that fail from start.Those who use the systems are proficient in their work, and those who develop systems are proficient in software engineering. These two groups have often little knowledge and understanding of each other’s worlds and their vocabularies are quite different. In systems development projects, users are often confronted with representations of their work that they hardly recognize. Systems designers compose these representations in an attempt to reduce the complexity of the work practices in a way that is appropriate for systems development. It is very difficult for users to appreciate the consequences fully on their future work situation from such representations, since they are removed from the social setting and often describe work in a fragmentized way. The unfamiliar view of their work may make the users less inclined to participate in the forthcoming design process.This thesis presents research performed to increase the usability of systems in working life and to explore conditions that facilitate the design of systems that really support the users work. The research comprises field studies in different work contexts, e.g. health care, dentistry, public service, and transportation. Information on the essentials of work has been gathered and analyzed to learn how such findings can be translated into systems design. Another goal has been to explore how to make the most of users’ experiences and skills to assure systems that better fit their work. Along with a growing awareness of the importance of user involvement in design, a participatory design process including the analysis and design of work has evolved.