Management of Repair in Human-Computer Interaction

This article reports an investigation of the initiation and management of repair in human-computer interaction from a conversation-analytic perspective. It describes some ways in which pairs of novice users deal with what they see as "troublen in the operation of a multiwindow database system called Sales and Marketinglnfinnation (SAM). A typical sequence has the character of a user request followed by a pause or computer granting, leading to user repair in initial or third position. Three components of repair are identified: The user attempts to get the computer to undo a previous granting, redo a previous request, or grant a new request. Some common ways in which these components are combined, ordered, and performed are illustrated with reference to transcripts of actual sequences of recorded interaction. The relevance of these findings for design is discussed, together with the future potential of the approach that generated them. David Frohlich is a social scientist working on new office technologies as a Member of the Technical Staff at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories Bristol. Paul Drew is a conversion analyst with interests in workplace communication; he is a Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of York. Andrew Monk is a psychologist with interests in human-computer interaction; he is a Reader in the Department of Psychology at the University of York. D ow nl oa de d by [ M cG ill U ni ve rs ity L ib ra ry ] at 0 9: 33 1 4 O ct ob er 2 01 4 386 FROHLICH, DREW, MONK