Activity Prioritization to Focus the Control Task Analysis

We describe a structured method for decreasing the gap between cognitive work analysis (CWA) and sociotechnical systems design within industrial contexts. Key to closing this gap is reducing the volume of data collected during initial CWA stages so as to focus further development effort on the key determinants of system performance. The goal of the current study was to develop a method to accompany control task analysis (ConTA; and associated contextual activity templates [CATs]). The method developed, “activity prioritization,” involved a multifaceted procedure for prioritizing activities to identify each activity’s overall impact on system performance. Using three key values, each activity receives a priority score that is ordered to create an activity priority list. For the prioritization, the functions described in the CAT were the purpose-related functions identified via a work domain analysis of long haulage trucking. The method described was used to guide development of highly automated trucks within a recently completed industrial project (methods for designing future autonomous systems [MODAS]).

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