short-paper

Digitisation of maintenance work management - a work design perspective: Lessons Learned in an Industry Study

Authors:

Mark A Griffin,

Melinda Hodkiewicz,

Tim FrenchAuthors Info & Claims

OzCHI '21: Proceedings of the 33rd Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction

Pages 159 - 164

https://doi.org/10.1145/3520495.3520526

Published: 15 September 2022 Publication History

Abstract

Work design theory provides an understanding of the characteristics of a task or job that makes work meaningful and motivating for individuals. Currently, maintenance technicians in hands-on manual trades roles working in industrial organisations are dealing with the introduction of digital technology to replace or augment their work practices. This paper elicits technicians’ views on potential changes to the nature of their work as a result of this new technology. We report on learnings from two focus groups with qualified technicians prior to the introduction of a tablet-based digital tool to replace paper-based procedures. The potential impact of the technology is framed in terms of six job characteristics: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, feedback and community. We identify lessons for Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) practitioners relating to how to present these ideas to audiences whose work is grounded in manual skills.

References

[1]

Boban Blazevski and Jean D Hallewell Haslwanter. 2017. User-centered development of a system to support assembly line worker. In Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1145/3098279.3119840

Digital Library

[2]

Alexandra Amy Boeing, Karina Jorristma, Mark A Griffin, and Sharon K Parker. 2020. Surfacing the social factors early: A sociotechnical approach to the design of a future submarine. Australian Journal of Management 45, 3 (2020), 527–545. https://doi.org/10.1177/0312896220920338

[3]

Keith A Butler, Jiajie Zhang, Chris Esposito, Ali Bahrami, Ron Hebron, and David Kieras. 2007. Work-centered design: a case study of a mixed-initiative scheduler. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 747–756. https://doi.org/10.1145/1240624.1240739

Digital Library

[4]

Fred D Davis. 2006. On the relationship between HCI and technology acceptance research. P. Zhang & Galleta, D.(cords.). Human–computer interaction and management information systems: foundations(2006), 395–401.

[5]

Iñigo Fernández del Amo, John Erkoyuncu, Romain Frayssinet, Cristina Vazquez Reynel, Rajkumar Roy, 2020. Structured authoring for AR-based communication to enhance efficiency in remote diagnosis for complex equipment. Advanced Engineering Informatics 45 (2020), 101096. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aei.2020.101096

[6]

Marylène Gagné and Edward L Deci. 2005. Self-determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational behavior 26, 4 (2005), 331–362. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.322

[7]

Pavel Gurevich, Joel Lanir, Benjamin Cohen, and Ran Stone. 2012. TeleAdvisor: a versatile augmented reality tool for remote assistance. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 619–622. https://doi.org/10.1145/2207676.2207763

Digital Library

[8]

J Richard Hackman and Greg R Oldham. 1976. Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory. Organizational behavior and human performance 16, 2(1976), 250–279. https://doi.org/10.1016/0030-5073(76)90016-7

[9]

Richard J. Hackman and Greg R. Oldham. 1975. Development of the job diagnostic survey.Journal of Applied psychology 60, 2 (1975), 159–170. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0076546

[10]

Mikkel Haggren Brynildsen and Anna Nielsen. 2021. Technical communication with users. url: https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2021/04/26/MondayTLP%20-%2003-%20Technical%20communication%20with%20users.pdf.

[11]

Melinda Hodkiewicz. 2015. Maintainer of the future. Australian Journal of Multi-disciplinary Engineering 11, 2(2015), 135–146. https://doi.org/10.7158/14488388.2015.11464890

[12]

Debora Jeske and Alecia M Santuzzi. 2015. Monitoring what and how: psychological implications of electronic performance monitoring. New Technology, Work and Employment 30, 1 (2015), 62–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/ntwe.12039

[13]

Finn Kensing and Jeanette Blomberg. 1998. Participatory design: Issues and concerns. Computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) 7, 3 (1998), 167–185.

Digital Library

[14]

Thomas Kosch, Yomna Abdelrahman, Markus Funk, and Albrecht Schmidt. 2017. One size does not fit all: challenges of providing interactive worker assistance in industrial settings. In Proceedings of the 2017 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing and Proceedings of the 2017 ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1006–1011. https://doi.org/10.1145/3123024.3124395

Digital Library

[15]

Jean-François Lapointe, Heather Molyneaux, and Mohand Saïd Allili. 2020. A literature review of AR-based remote guidance tasks with user studies. In International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. 111–120. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49698-2_8

Digital Library

[16]

Frieder Loch, Mina Fahimipirehgalin, Julia N Czerniak, Alexander Mertens, Valeria Villani, Lorenzo Sabattini, Cesare Fantuzzi, and Birgit Vogel-Heuser. 2019. An Adaptive Virtual Training System Based on Universal Design. IFAC-PapersOnLine 51, 34 (2019), 335–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2019.01.023

[17]

McKinsey & Company. 2020. The future of maintenance for distributed fixed assets. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/the-future-of-maintenance-for-distributed-fixed-assets

[18]

Greg R Oldham, J Richard Hackman, and Jone L Pearce. 1976. Conditions under which employees respond positively to enriched work.Journal of applied psychology 61, 4 (1976), 395.

[19]

Sharon Parker and Caroline Knight. 2021. Structuring Work Design: A Higher-Order Analysis of Work Characteristics. [Under Review].

[20]

Sharon K Parker. 2014. Beyond motivation: Job and work design for development, health, ambidexterity, and more. Annual review of psychology 65 (2014), 661–691.

[21]

Sharon K. Parker and Gudela Grote. 2019. Automation, algorithms, and beyond: Why work design matters more than ever in a digital world. Applied Psychology 0, 0 (2019), 1–45. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12241

[22]

Ronald F Piccolo and Jason A Colquitt. 2006. Transformational leadership and job behaviors: The mediating role of core job characteristics. Academy of Management journal 49, 2 (2006), 327–340. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2006.20786079

[23]

Yngve Sundblad. 2010. UTOPIA: Participatory design from Scandinavia to the world. In IFIP Conference on History of Nordic Computing. Springer, 176–186.

[24]

April Tyack and Elisa D Mekler. 2020. Self-determination theory in HCI games research: current uses and open questions. In Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376723

Digital Library

[25]

Bin Wang, Yukun Liu, and Sharon K Parker. 2020. How does the use of information communication technology affect individuals? A work design perspective. Academy of Management Annals 14, 2 (2020), 695–725. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2018.0127

[26]

Nadir Weibel, Danilo Gasques, Janet Johnson, Thomas Sharkey, Zhuoqun Robin Xu, Xinming Zhang, Enrique Zavala, Michael Yip, and Konrad Davis. 2020. Artemis: Mixed-reality environment for immersive surgical telementoring. In Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1145/3334480.3383169

Digital Library

[27]

Johan Wiklund. 2020. Working in Bed—A Commentary on “Automation, Algorithms, and Beyond: Why Work Design Matters More than Ever in a Digital World” by Parker and Grote. Applied Psychology (2020). https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12261

[28]

Caitlin Woods, Mark A Griffin, Tim French, and Melinda Hodkiewicz. 2021. Using Job Characteristics to Inform Interface Design for Industrial Maintenance Procedures. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 1–10.

Digital Library

Cited By

Spektor FFox SAwumey ERiordan CRho HKulkarni CMartinez-Lopez MStringam BBegleiter BForlizzi J(2023)Designing for Wellbeing: Worker-Generated Ideas on Adapting Algorithmic Management in the Hospitality IndustryProceedings of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3563657.3596018(623-637)Online publication date: 10-Jul-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3563657.3596018

Index Terms

Digitisation of maintenance work management - a work design perspective: Lessons Learned in an Industry Study
1. Applied computing
  1. Computers in other domains
2. Human-centered computing
  1. Collaborative and social computing
    1. Collaborative and social computing theory, concepts and paradigms
  2. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. HCI design and evaluation methods
      1. User studies

Recommendations

Using Job Characteristics to Inform Interface Design for Industrial Maintenance Procedures
CHI '21: Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Maintenance of industrial equipment is done by fitters, electricians and other maintainers. For safety and quality control, maintainers must follow procedures; historically these have been paper-based. Asset-owning organisations seek to transition ...
An examination of the relationships between select nature of work characteristics and organizational commitment of IT professionals
SIGMIS CPR '03: Proceedings of the 2003 SIGMIS conference on Computer personnel research: Freedom in Philadelphia--leveraging differences and diversity in the IT workforce

One of the problems faced by IT managers in periods of prosperity and economic constraint is turnover. The effects of turnover, especially in times of growth, include escalating hiring and training costs. In more challenging economic times, turnover of ...
Re-representation as work design in outsourcing: a semiotic view

Outsourcing work relies on the supplier's interpretation of the work delegated by the client. Existing streams of outsourcing literature tend to assume that the supplier should use the same convention as the client to make sense of the work package. In ...

Comments

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM Other conferences

OzCHI '21: Proceedings of the 33rd Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction

November 2021

361 pages

ISBN:9781450395984

DOI:10.1145/3520495

Copyright © 2021 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 15 September 2022

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Request Permissions

Check for updates

Author Tags

Qualifiers

Short-paper
Research
Refereed limited

Conference

OzCHI '21

OzCHI '21: 33rd Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction

November 30 - December 2, 2021

VIC, Melbourne, Australia

Acceptance Rates

Overall Acceptance Rate 362 of 729 submissions, 50%

Contributors

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

1
Total Citations
View Citations
75
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)25
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)2

Reflects downloads up to 05 Mar 2025

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

Spektor FFox SAwumey ERiordan CRho HKulkarni CMartinez-Lopez MStringam BBegleiter BForlizzi J(2023)Designing for Wellbeing: Worker-Generated Ideas on Adapting Algorithmic Management in the Hospitality IndustryProceedings of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3563657.3596018(623-637)Online publication date: 10-Jul-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3563657.3596018

View Options

Login options

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Full Access

Get this Publication

View options

PDF

View or Download as a PDF file.

eReader

View online with eReader.

HTML Format

View this article in HTML Format.

Figures

Tables

Media

View Table of Conten