Vignette 1: Air Traffic Control (Hughes et al.) |
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Cooperative Arrangement
Small group of workers (Number?), Location within a site some co-location at desks. Ability to oversee and overhear one another. Focus on the public display and arrangement of a series of flight strips on one wall.
Representation of Activity
The placement of the flight strips in a particular order represents the current configuration of the airspace dealt with by the control room. Flight progress strips are arranged in the height order of the planes in the airspace with the movement across it represented by the left to right movement of the flight strips. The strips of planes about to enter the airspace are placed on the left hand side while the strips of those having exited the flight space are on the right.
Ecological Arrangement
Coordination Techniques
The arrangement of the flight strips in this public display allows for the coordination of a group of workers round a single artefact. This allows for the team to cooperatively plan and visualise the unfolding air space configuration and make this available to others for the purposes of their work. Individual flight strips of particular note, for example because they are problematic are ‘cocked out’ at an angle to draw workers attention to. Closer inspection of these flight strips in reveals more detail about the individual flights while the board reveals details about the whole state of the sector.
Community of Use
Inter-organisational group of workers in an air traffic control room.