Initial Evaluation of Principles for Graphical Displays in Maintenance Problem Solving
Abstract
This paper reports the findings of two studies of the use of diagrams for maintenance problem solving. One study involved a protocol analysis of one maintainer working three maintenance problems. The protocol was analyzed for actions performed, strategies employed, diagrams used, and the relationships among all three. These findings were then used to develop a view of the cognition involved and the information required for maintenance problem solving. With this foundation, we developed a general aggregation and abstraction principle for displays that would help maintainers solve maintenance problems. Displays were developed based on this principle and a second study was conducted to test the efficacy of these displays for maintenance problem solving. The second study involved six helicopter technicians solving problems using either standard diagrammatic materials or the proposed new display materials. The results showed that the experimental displays developed from principles of aggregation and abstraction provided significant reduction in actions required and information sought by maintenance problem solvers over conventional diagrammatic material. These findings suggest that using displays more closely matching the internal representations of technicians results in fewer cognitive actions being required for maintenance problem solving.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 11, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA216439
Entities
People
- Daniel R. Sewell
- William B. Johnson
- William B. Rouse