Ergonomics action research II: a framework for integrating HF into work system design

This paper presents a conceptual framework that can support efforts to integrate human factors (HF) into the work system design process, where improved and cost-effective application of HF is possible. The framework advocates strategies of broad stakeholder participation, linking of performance and health goals, and process focussed change tools that can help practitioners engage in improvements to embed HF into a firm's work system design process. Recommended tools include business process mapping of the design process, implementing design criteria, using cognitive mapping to connect to managers’ strategic goals, tactical use of training and adopting virtual HF (VHF) tools to support the integration effort. Consistent with organisational change research, the framework provides guidance but does not suggest a strict set of steps. This allows more adaptability for the practitioner who must navigate within a particular organisational context to secure support for embedding HF into the design process for improved operator wellbeing and system performance.

Practitioner Summary: There has been little scientific literature about how a practitioner might integrate HF into a company's work system design process. This paper proposes a framework for this effort by presenting a coherent conceptual framework, process tools, design tools and procedural advice that can be adapted for a target organisation.     

An ergonomics action research demonstration: integrating human factors into assembly design processes

In action research (AR), the researcher participates ‘in’ the actions in an organisation, while simultaneously reflecting ‘on’ the actions to promote learning for both the organisation and the researchers. This paper demonstrates a longitudinal AR collaboration with an electronics manufacturing firm where the goal was to improve the organisation's ability to integrate human factors (HF) proactively into their design processes. During the three-year collaboration, all meetings, workshops, interviews and reflections were digitally recorded and qualitatively analysed to inform new ‘actions’. By the end of the collaboration, HF tools with targets and sign-off by the HF specialist were integrated into several stages of the design process, and engineers were held accountable for meeting the HF targets. We conclude that the AR approach combined with targeting multiple initiatives at different stages of the design process helped the organisation find ways to integrate HF into their processes in a sustainable way.

Practitioner Summary: Researchers acted as a catalyst to help integrate HF into the engineering design process in a sustainable way. This paper demonstrates how an AR approach can help achieve HF integration, the benefits of using a reflective stance and one method for reporting an AR study.     

Engineering aesthetics and aesthetic ergonomics: Theoretical foundations and a dual-process research methodology

Although industrial and product designers are keenly aware of the importance of design aesthetics, they make aesthetic design decisions largely on the basis of their intuitive judgments and ‘educated guesses’. Whilst ergonomics and human factors researchers have made great contributions to the safety, productivity, ease-of-use, and comfort of human-machine-environment systems, aesthetics is largely ignored as a topic of systematic scientific research in human factors and ergonomics. This article discusses the need for incorporating the aesthetics dimension in ergonomics and proposes the establishment of a new scientific and engineering discipline that we can call ‘engineering aesthetics’. This discipline addresses two major questions: How do we use engineering and scientific methods to study aesthetics concepts in general and design aesthetics in particular? How do we incorporate engineering and scientific methods in the aesthetic design and evaluation process? This article identifies two special features that distinguish aesthetic appraisal of products and system designs from aesthetic appreciation of art, and lays out a theoretical foundation as well as a dual-process research methodology for ‘engineering aesthetics’. Sample applications of this methodology are also described.     

Configuration information system architecture: Insights from applied action design research

One of the critical information systems that enables service resilience is the service configuration information system (CiS). The fundamental challenge for organisations is the effective designing and implementation of the CiS architecture. This paper addresses this important research problem and reports insights from a completed applied action design research (ADR) project in an Australian financial services organisation. This paper aims to provide guidance to researchers and practitioners contemplating ADR, rooted in the organisational context, for practice-oriented academia-industry collaborative research. This research also contributes in terms of the CiS reference architecture design knowledge and demonstrates the applicability of the ADR method.     

Ontology engineering step in design science research methodology: a technique to gather and reuse knowledge

Design science (DS) is an emerging research paradigm in the information systems field. One of its challenges is to systematically structure knowledge for business solution artefacts. In this paper, we address this challenge by presenting an ontology engineering process. It structures gathered knowledge based on domain-specific concepts and relations. Application of the process results in an improvement in DS artefacts in terms of representational information quality. The goal of the paper is to place the ontology engineering process in the DS research methodology and provide pragmatic steps to follow the process.     

Design process knowledge for crisis-driven information systems solutions: Insights on building digital resilience from an action design research study

As global disruptions escalate, digital resilience (DR)—the capacity to anticipate, absorb, and adapt to external shocks by leveraging Information Systems (IS)—has become crucial for individuals and organisations confronting and managing unprecedented crises. This research advances understanding on how to develop DR, drawing on insights from an Action Design Research (ADR) study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our research explores a particular facet of DR: the capacity to manage exogenous shocks through the design  of new IS solutions. We introduce the ADAPT framework, comprising five key enablers—Agility, Designation, Alignment, Participation, and Trust—recommended to support design teams developing IS solutions during and for crises. Our ADR project, which resulted in the creation of a telemonitoring system used by over 115 frontline healthcare workers to monitor the symptoms of more than 1000 COVID-19 patients, demonstrates the instrumental role these five enablers play in supporting a crisis-propelled IS design process that is urgent, resource-limited, and multi-partite. By presenting new design process knowledge and practical recommendations that guide crisis-driven IS design, we aim to equip design teams with the understanding they need to effectively navigate similar challenges in the future. We also hope to inspire and support IS researchers to apply their expertise in the design, deployment, and use of IS solutions to contribute to crisis-driven design endeavours that tackle the pressing and urgent challenges of our time.     

Strategic benefits to SMEs from third party web services: An action research analysis

Prior research provides evidence that large organizations can derive strategic benefits from developing new applications with web services. This research contributes to the literature by demonstrating that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can derive strategic benefits from using publicly available web services, and that SMEs may be best able to take advantage of the inexpensive, user friendly third party web services that are emerging. In this paper we describe how one small golf retailer used web services to achieve strategic benefits including higher profit margins and better competitive positioning relative to a large competitor. Specifically, action research methods were used to devise and implement an innovative strategy for applying the web services offered by eBay in tandem with web services offered by related third party companies. The business and IT strategies, first year results, and key success factors are described followed by a discussion of the generalizability of the strategies employed. In conclusion, possible directions for future research are discussed.     

Contextualizing a professional social network for health care: Experiences from an action design research study

Professional social networks (PSN) are online environments where practitioners can present themselves, get in contact and socialize with coworkers, share and discuss ideas, or exchange business‐related knowledge. Despite the fact that collaboration and information sharing are becoming more relevant for delivering high‐quality services, PSN are not yet widely adopted in complex domains such as health care. While most of the literature is still focusing on the exposition of the unbound potential of PSN, this paper seeks to clarify the question of how to capture and manage the professional identity of an industry such that PSN can be purposefully anchored in the working context. Following an Action Design Research approach, we describe practical design propositions and possible tensions along the contextualization of a PSN, which was specifically catered for improving interprofessional and interorganizational collaboration in and between hospitals. We identify several implications for future research. In particular, we explain intended and unintended uses of PSN in hospitals and provide metaphors for explaining possible alternative understandings of domain engineering.