In the road transportation industry development is moving towards more advanced technology and the use of automation in the driving environment is increasing. Regarding the safety risks associated with an unconsidered use of a high degree of automation, it is expensive to develop automatic systems dealing with complex situations. As there is still much improvement to do in this area, this thesis aims to contribute to developing safe autonomic systems to assist truck drivers. The aim of the study was twofold, namely 1) to use Cognitive Work Analysis to identify opportunities for enhancing human-heavy vehicle system performance and 2) to contribute to improving the possibilities for identifying opportunities for enhancing system performance through the development of a method of prioritizing Activities using a Contextual Activity Template. To identify the opportunities for improvement, the first two phases of a Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) – Work Domain Analysis (WDA) and Control Task Analysis (ConTA), were conducted. To complete the WDA, five hours of interviews were conducted with a senior technical adviser from Scania CV AB as well as a two hour interview with an experienced commercial driver. Additionally, an observation study was conducted during which three video cameras were used to capture sixteen hours of footage (per camera) from 35 hours (2500kms) of observation (one driver/day over a four day period). During the observation study, drivers were asked to talk out loud about the information needed, decisions made and to provide some rational for their behavior at that time with respect to their driving activities. A total of 40 minutes of talk out loud video data was collected per driver. Finally, around five hours of follow-up interviews were conduct-ed during which these drivers reviewed the videos collected during the observation study. The results from the WDA were presented in an Abstraction Hierarchy. The overall functional purpose of the system was defined as Goods Distribution via Road Transportation with the values and priorities being Effectivity and Efficiency, Safety, Comfort, Laws/regulations, Reputation, and Organizational Regulations. For the WDA in the current thesis, the AH was completed for the first three values listed above. In total the AH included 343 nodes (39 at the Purpose Related Functions level, 77 at the Object Related Processes level, and 211 at the Physical Objects level). The means by which the physical objects were used in different situations was described using a Contractual Activity Template. The object related processes defined in the AH were crosschecked with 42 situations identified during the observation study. Eight hours of further interviews were conducted with the previously-observed drivers to better understand the relationship between the object related processes and the situations. The object related process-situations matrix was then prioritized according to importance and frequency. On the basis of this prioritization, a set of potential improvement areas were identified, as for example communication and visibility during highway driving. / Transportindustrins utveckling går mot mer avancerad teknik och högre automationsgrad i förarmiljön. Det är kostsamt att utveckla automatiska system som klarar att hantera komplexa situationer på grund av de säkerhetsrisker som är förknippade med ogenomtänkt införande av automation. Eftersom det fortfarande finns mycket förbättring att göra inom området syftar denna studie till att bidra i utvecklingen av säkra autonoma system som stödjer lastbilschauffören. Studien hade ett tvåfaldigt syfte, nämligen 1) att använda Cognitive Work Analysis för att identifiera möjligheter att förbättra människa-fordonssystemsprestandan för tunga lastbilar och 2) att bidra till att förbättra möjligheterna att identifiera möjliga systemförbättringar genom utveckling av en metod för prioritering av aktiviteterna i en Contextual Activity Template. För att identifiera förbättringsmöjligheterna genomfördes de två första faserna av Cognitive Work Analysis – Work Domain Analysis (WDA) och Control Task Analysis (ConTA). För WDA utfördes fem timmar av intervjuer med en senior technical adviser från Scania VC AB och en två timmars intervju med en erfaren kommersiell lastbilschaufför. Utöver detta genomfördes en observationsstudie där tre videokameror användes för att samla 16 timmars inspelning (per kamera) från 35 timmars (2500 km) observation (en förare/dag under en fyradagarsperiod). Under observationsstudien berättade förarna högt om informationsbehov, beslut som tas och förklarade beteendet under de olika köraktiviteterna. Totalt 40 minuter av videodata när förarna berättade högt insamlades per förare. Slutligen genomfördes ungefär fem timmar av efterföljande intervjuer där samma förare fick återge körningen utifrån videomaterialet från observationsstudien. Resultatet från WDA presenterades i en abstraktionshierarki. Det övergripande funktionella syftet med systemet var definierat som godsdistribution via vägtransport med värdena och prioriteringarna Effektivitet, Säkerhet, Komfort, Lagar/Regler, Rykte och Organisatoriska regler. För WDA:n i detta examensarbete gjordes en AH för de tre första värdena nämnda ovan. Totalt bestod AH av 343 noder, (39 på nivån med syftesrelaterade funktioner, 77 på nivån med objektrelaterade processer och 211 på nivån med fysiska objekt). I vilka situationer de fysiska objektens funktioner användes beskrevs med en Contractual Activity Template (CAT; Naikar et al., 2006). De objektrelaterade processer definierade i AH:n undersöktes utifrån 42 situationer identifierade under observationsstudien. Åtta timmar av vidare intervju genomfördes med förarna från observationsstudien för att erhålla en bättre förståelse för förhållandet mellan de objektrelaterade processerna och situationerna. Matrisen med objektrelaterade processer och situationer prioriterades sedan enligt betydelse och frekvens. Baserat på prioriteringen identifierades ett antal potentiella förbättringsområden, exempelvis kommunikation och synlighet under landsvägskörning.

Work Domain Analysis (WDA) and task analysis are methods that can be used to develop complex systems that support human operators. Task analysis can be used to describe the nominal tasks of many complex safety critical systems which are also highly proceduralized. However, complex systems may require human operators to have a greater understanding of the system's dynamics than can be obtained from procedures derived from a task analysis. This is particularly true when off-nominal events occur, for which there is no procedure. By concentrating on the constraints in the work domain instead of tasks, work domain analysis can complement task analysis by supporting operators during off-nominal events that do not have any predescribed procedures. The goal of this study was to use WDA and two forms of task analysis to derive interface and procedure modifications for a new aviation concept called interval management. Interval management is a new concept whose goal is to increase runway throughput by enabling aircraft to achieve a precise interval behind a lead aircraft. This study used data from a human-in-the-loop study conducted at NASA Langley Research Center to develop a Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA), Control Task Analysis (CTA), and WDA. The HTA was used to describe a nominal set or procedures, the CTA was used to describe strategies pilots could use to make decisions regarding the IM operation, and the WDA was used to determine representations and procedures that could convey complete and accurate knowledge of interval management to the flightcrew.

The need for interoperability in emergency communication systems has hastened the development of cognitive radio technology. However, even though a cognitive radio system technically interconnects participating agencies, interoperability depends not only on technical matters but also organizational issues related to the different individuals, working contexts and types of cooperative work involved. In order to support public safety workers such as police, firefighters, and Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers appropriately, it is vital to consider the dynamics of the way they interact in any collaborative situation. The purpose of this study is to develop an in-depth understanding of interoperability and construct a new model based on this understanding, along with a working model of an interoperable communication system to serve as a design framework that (1) supports effective public safety communication and (2) incorporates cognitive radio capabilities to ensure optimal semantic interoperability. An adequate model for interoperability must include multiple dimensions to explain both the concept of interoperability in the public safety domain and its relationships with task characteristics and information needs. This model focuses primarily on the requirements for communication systems. The value perspective reflects the evaluation criteria for effective team communication such as semantic interoperability, task routineness, and information processing aspects. The design framework incorporates the proposed model into Work Domain Analysis (WDA). To achieve these research objectives, a series of studies was conducted. The first was a qualitative exploratory study that identified how the concept of interoperability is manifested in the public safety work domain. Through the use of semi-structured interviews, communication patterns in terms of interoperability were placed in a real world context. The responses from the participants were categorized in terms of the dimensions of interoperability and reinterpreted using sensemaking as a theoretical framework. The dimensions of interoperability identified consisted of information sharedness, communication readiness, operational awareness, adaptiveness, and coupledness. Based on these findings, a new instrument was proposed to measure interoperability for communication systems. This instrument was then statistically validated. The second study identified the effects of different types of operation and types of organization on interoperability, as well as investigating the relationships among interoperability, task routineness and information processing using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Based on this understanding and theoretical perspective, a new interoperable communication structure was delineated in the model. A prototype of a public safety cognitive radio communication system was then developed based on the proposed framework and examined using a focus group in order to validate the proposed model and design framework and highlight any usability issues that may affect the prototype's operational effectiveness. / Ph. D.

Being able to perform good data analysis is a fundamental part of running any business or organization. One way of enabling data analysis is with a data warehouse system, a type of database that gathers and transforms data from multiple sources and structures it in the goal of simplifying analysis. It is commonly used to provide support in decision-making. Although a data warehouse enables data analysis, it is also relevant to consider how well the system supports analysis. This thesis is a qualitative research that aims to investigate how work domain analysis (WDA) can be used to evaluate the design of a data warehouse system. To do so, a case study at the IT company Norconsult Astando was performed. A data warehouse system was designed for an issue management system and evaluated using the abstraction hierarchy (AH) model. The research done in this thesis showed that analysis was enabled by adopting Kimball’s bottom-up approach and a star schema design with an accumulating snapshot fact table. Through evaluation of the design, it was shown that most of the design choices made for the data warehouse were captured in the AH. It was concluded that with sufficient data collection methods, WDA can be used to a large extent when evaluating a data warehouse system.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Psychology, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains [1], iv, 41 p. : ill. Includes bibliographical references (p. 41).

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Sweden has the ambition to be the world leading country leveraging the opportunities of digitalization in the healthcare sector. In parallel, the Swedish Research Council highlights that conducting more clinical studies is essential to improve the healthcare. Henceforth, considering the need for increased operational efficiency as an enabler for increased clinical activity, a digital transformation of the industry was identified as a potential catalyst. The study thus utilizes a cognitive work analysis framework to investigate the potential benefits and risks of digitizing the functional operations at a contract management department for clinical studies at a Swedish university hospital. The aim is thereafter to determine the appropriate properties necessary to consider managing a digital transformation. The analysis identified three key benefits from a digitization. 1) transparent data sharing, 2) standardized contract management and 3) efficient operations. These three aspects are currently insufficient at the department hindering the objective of increasing the clinical activity. The study found that a digital transformation would be suitable in order to mitigate these insufficiencies and consequently facilitating the achievement of the objectives. Thereafter, the study found the key properties to consider managing a digital transformation to be interoperability, quality, adaptability and usability. In addition, safety was found critical to be considered in the transformation as the contract management department acts under rigid laws and regulations on ethics and patient security with which digitized processes must comply. The results contribute to the field of cognitive systems engineering. However, the study has limitations regarding the reliability and generalizability of the results. The findings are based on a single case study, which may not be representative for the industry in general nor for university hospitals in particular. In addition, since no actual digitalization effort was performed at the organization during the study, appropriate properties key to consider in the digital transformation are speculative by design. Consequently, it is necessary to study an actual implementation process in future research and whether the proposed considerations are sufficient in order to realize the suggested benefits of such a digitalization. / Sverige har ett övergripande mål att vara det ledande landet när det gäller att dra nytta av digitaliseringens möjligheter inom sjukvården. Dessutom understryker Vetenskapsrådet att det är centralt för förbättrad sjukvård att öka antalet kliniska studier i landet. Följaktligen, med tanke på behovet av en ökad operativ effektivitet, identifierade författarna det av intresse att studera digitalisering av branschen. Studien tillämpar således ett kognitivt ramverk för arbetsanalys i syfte att undersöka de potentiella fördelarna eller riskerna med att digitalisera den funktionella verksamheten hos en kontrakthanteringsavdelning för kliniska studier vid ett stort svenskt universitetssjukhus. Målsättningen är därefter att ta fram lämpliga egenskaper som är nödvändiga att beakta vid hanteringen av den digitala transformationen. Kontrakthanteringsavdelningen fanns att inneha brister i sina arbetsprocesser gällande transparens, effektivitet och standardisering vilket hindrar målet avseende ökad klinisk aktivitet. Studien visade att en digital transformation skulle vara nödvändig för att motverka dessa brister, samt för att möjliggöra en uppskalning av organisationen. Ett annat specifikt förbättringsområde som skulle underlättas av en digital transformation visade sig vara förbättrad synkronisering mellan arbetsprocesser. Vidare fann studien att de mest kritiska egenskaperna nödvändiga att beakta, vid hantering av en digital transformation, skulle vara interoperabilitet, kvalitet, anpassningsförmåga och användbarhet. Dessutom är säkerhet en egenskap som visat sig vara kritisk att beakta vid digitalisering då kontrakthanteringsavdelningen lyder under stränga lagar och föreskrifter beträffande etik och patientsäkerhet. Resultaten bidrar till forskningsområdet cognitive systems engineering. Studien har dock vissa begränsningar gällande tillförlitlighet och generaliserbarhet. Resultaten är baserade på en enfallstudie, som eventuellt inte är representativ för branschen i allmänhet eller för universitetssjukhus i synnerhet. Dessutom, då ingen digitaliseringsinsats utfördes under studien är de viktiga egenskaperna att beakta i den digitala transformationen enbart spekulativa. Således är det i framtida forskning viktigt att studera en faktisk implementation och då studera om föreslagna beaktanden är tillräckliga för att utnyttja digitaliseringens möjligheter.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Psychology, 2005. / Title from second page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains [2], vi, 72, [22] p. : ill. Includes bibliographical references (p. 35-37).