Stupid bloody system

Jonas Söderström inUse AB ” Stupid bloody system!” Cognitive stress from today’s fragmented digital work environment – the users’ view

Consequences of new computer systems introduced:
Swedish National Passport Authority:
“ Break-down chamber” for workers
Swedish Television
“ People were crying themselves to sleep”
Regional Health Service, Uppsala, Sweden
“ Dangerous to nurse’s health”

It’s not always a total catastrophe, but …

How bad?
42 percent of workers say IT-related problems make them angry, stressed and frustrated.
Women up to age 29: 60 percent have adverse reactions from trouble with IT.
73 percent lose up to two work hours a day.
SIFO/Koneo mars 2006

In UK, too:
Workers spent 10 per cent of their time battling against computer programmes or getting to grips with phones, handheld devices and other gadgets.
Thirty-seven per cent say they are frustrated by not being able to handle the technology.
32 per cent of workers say they have failed to receive training from their company to teach them to use the technology in the office.
(City & Guild, 2006)

Stress is the main problem
” Stress is the big problem facing employers up and down the country as rates of sick leave soar. (...) Work-related stress has reached record levels, with 13.4 million lost days a year blamed on the pressures of office life.
Stress has replaced backache as the biggest cause of absenteeism, and the financial burden is enormous. Cases of stress, depression and anxiety are said to have doubled in the past seven years , with one in five employees reporting that they feel stressed.
Yet no one can come up with a proper definition of what it is .”
(Health and Safety Executive, in Guardian, Oct 12 2003)

What has happened? Eight concurrent reasons why the users are becoming frustrated and stressed-out

1: Explosion of systems used
The sheer number of applications (systems, sites) we must use in the workplace has exploded
General store: 20-25 different systems to manage store
Office: 30-50
Many “small” systems introduced by different stakeholders in the organization
No idea of the total load on the individual

Small and irritating differences
Grocery store:
Prize as ”54.50” and ”54:50”
Service company: two systems used in parallel in same workstation
System 1: Ctrl-O is “Execute”
System 2: Ctrl-O is “Shut down and close”
Cognitive load: “How did this system work?”

Built-in differences
Created by different generations of consultants/developers
Built on succeeding generations of technological platforms
Web based design: lack of standards

Many systems are used infrequently…
… but some system is used each day, week, month.
Difficulties in learning!

2: Chores – not “real” work
Many new tasks, not related to what is perceived as “my real work”
Cuts in administration
Ever-growing demand for documentation and statistics
The (supposed) benefits of these chores are often not clear to the individual worker

3: Inflexibility
Technical view of work as process (not interaction between humans)
Systems does not admit improvisation, flexible solutions
Service sector:
Pressure on workers from two sides:
Poorly designed systems
Irate customers

Inflexibility means control
… over how tasks can /should be done
Very limited space for worker’s own initiatives
Very hard to adapt the tool to fit yourself
Improvement suggestions often subject to very slow “change request”-systems
More power to middle management, less to workers

4: Poor interfaces and bad interaction design
Many systems still shockingly bad
Interaction design and interface design not well understood
Excuses: “It’s only a small system” …
… yet another one added to the many!
“ Integrated” or “standard” systems not ideal for any special given task
“ Swiss army knife-syndrome”

Examples: Complicated structure

Too much information

5: Ever increasing speed
Fast changing business goals
Re-organizations
New technological platforms
Individuals report:
“… less time to learn”
“… new systems introduced before we learned the previous one”

6: The burden of vigilance
New systems reduce some tasks …
… but also add new:
Virus protection updates
System updates
Identification, authorization
Administration of access levels
These are seldom mentioned to users in advance
Significantly reduces promises of time saved
Yet another “ not my real work ”-chore

7: Systematic neglect of training
Often too early on unfinished systems
Again: “It’s just a small system”
Unrealistic expectations for “user-friendly” “intuitive” systems
Web based systems still perceived as inherently “easy”
“ Curse of knowledge” of project managers etc:
Underestimates time for learning

8: Blame the user
Project managers and developers often have a mutual interest in keeping a good relation
User’s as scape-goats for bad systems:
“ Not computer literate”

… it’s all about the digital work environment

What has happened? (1)
Technological shift mid-nineties
Web technology
Rapid development
Rapid distribution
Utopian expectations and promises
Many young developers and project managers without experience of working life

What has happened? (2)
Web technology
Weak interaction
Lack of standards
Micro-stress from waiting time (reloading pages)

Consequences
Learning problems on a different scale
Control of work on a different scale
Increase in stress from cognitive load
Reasonable cause behind part of increasing stress in the work place

Suggestions for future research
Cognitive load of applications and systems
Surveys of total digital work environment
Number of applications
Frequency of use
Differences between systems
Frequency and speed of introduction of new systems
Education and training in new systems

Change of focus
Traditional ergonomics
Monotonous computer work
Physical strain
Repetitive tasks, same system
Single application
New focus
Ever-changing computer work
Cognitive stress
Multi-tasking with infrequently used applications
Many applications
Traditional usability
One application at a time
Focus on interface and functions
New focus
The application in its digital context in the workplace
Focus on introduction, training, support

Wider implications
Questioning the effects
Cutting administrative staff
Questions of power in the workplace

[email_address] Questions? Thank you!

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Stupid bloody system

by Jonas Söderström

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