Work-Centered Decision Support
Abstract
The ongoing revolution in information technology is creating digital nervous systems that connect all of an enterprise's information assets into an information grid. Accessing data no longer requires one to connect to several specific systems in serial fashion; instead, one plugs into a grid. The development of digital nervous systems is making more and more information available to decision-makers in real-time. The sheer volume of information threatens to overwhelm users. Surprisingly, there has been very little research into how this revolution will affect the human-computer-interface (HCI). The Air Force Research Laboratory has pioneered the development of a new class of job performance aid called the Work-Centered Support System (WCSS). A WCSS is a stand-alone interface client that shifts the HCI paradigm from the desktop metaphor to a work support metaphor. Traditional displays and controls, to include current user-centered HCIs, are machine- or system-focused, providing direct connections to machine resources and direct manipulation support for application tools. Further, a traditional HCI provides access to, or is interfaced to, only one system. Users must often log into and out of multiple systems to find the data they need to make decisions or perform a task. This is an increasingly clumsy setup that wastes time, increases cognitive load, and can lead to mistakes. In contrast, a WCSS is work-focused at the scale of work-threads, which encompasses planned tasks, interruptions, and opportunistic behavior. It represents the user's problem workspace, and acts to amplify and facilitate user decision-making, problem-solving, and overall work performance. In addition, machine automation is exploited in the form of intelligent agents that can work as team players in tandem with the user. This paper discusses the revolution in information technology that is enabling the WCSS work aid, and illustrates the WCSS concept through examples. (8 refs.)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA422252
Entities
People
- Michael J. Young
- Robert G. Eggleston
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory