Socio-cognitive engineering a methodology for the

–1–SOCIO-COGNITIVEENGINEERING:AMETHODOLOGYFORTHEDESIGNOFHUMAN-CENTREDTECHNOLOGYM.Sharples1,N.Jeffery3,J.B.H.duBoulay3,D.Teather2,B.Teather2,G.H.duBoulay2,31SchoolofElectronicandElectricalEngineering,UniversityofBirmingham,UK2DepartmentofMedicalStatistics,DeMontfortUniversity,Leicester,UK3SchoolofCognitiveandComputingSciences,UniversityofSussex,UK4InstituteofNeurology,London,UKEmail:[e-mail]eralmethodology,socio-cognitiveengineering,forthedesignofhuman-centredtechnology.Itintegratessoftware,task,knowledgeandorganizationalengineeringandhasbeenrefinedandtestedthroughaseriesofprojectstodevelopcomputersystemstosupporttrainingandprofessionalwork.Inthispaperwedescribethemethodologyandillustrateitsusethroughaprojecttodevelopacomputer-basedtrainingsystemforneuro-radiology.Keywords:human-centredtechnology;softwareengineering;organizationalengineering;human-computerinteraction;computer-basedtraining;radiology.1IntroductionThebenefitsofdesigningforusabilityhavebeenwidelypromoted(see,forexample,).Wecontendthatusabilityisanecessarybutnotsufficientconditionforthedesignofgoodhuman-centredtechnology.Technologyshouldalsobeuseful,elegantanddesirable(peopleshouldwanttouseit,ratherthanbeingcompelledtodosoasaconditionoftheirlearningorwork).Inthispaperweconcentrateonthecriteriaofusefulnessandelegance,andpresentacoherentmethodologyforthedesignofsystemsthatenhancehumanknowledgeworking,decisionmakingandlearning.Thepaperdescribesthemethodologyofsocio-cognitiveengineeringwhichaimstoanalyzethecomplexinteractionsbetweenpeopleandcomputer-basedtechnologyandthentransformthisanalysisintousable,usefulandelegantsocio-technicalsystems(technologyanditssocialcontext).Themethodologyhasbeendevelopedoversometwentyyears,throughaseriesofprojectsincluding:atelewritingsystem(McConnell&Sharples,1983),aWriter’sAssistant(Sharples,Goodlet,&Pemberton,1992),asystemtosupportrequirementscaptureanddesignofelectronicsequipment,atraininganddecisionsupportsystemforradiology(Sharples,Jeffery,Teather,Teather,&duBoulay,1997),andtechnologytosupportpersonalmobilelearning(Sharples,2000).Weillustratetheapplicationofsocio-cognitiveengineeringinaproject,namedMEDIATE,todevelopacomputer-basedtraininganddecisionsupportsystemforneuroradiology(theMRTutor).Althoughthispaperdiscussesaspecificapplicationinmedicalcomputing,themethodologyhasbeensuccessfullyappliedtothedesignofabroadrangeofhumancentredtechnologies,includingcomputer-basedlearning,decisionsupportandworkaugmentationsystems.–2–2BackgroundNormanproposedtheterm‘cognitiveengineering’todenote“ascienceofuser-centreddesign”,withtheaimofunderstanding“thefundamentalprinciplesbehindhumanactionandperformancethatarerelevantfortheengineeringprinciplesofdesign”andthenapplyingthisunderstanding“todevisesystemsthatarepleasanttouse”(Norman,1986).Theoriginalconceptionofcognitiveengineeringwasasameansofimprovingthequalityofinteractionbetweenanindividualandtechnologyandwasthuscouchedintermsofcognitivepsychology.Sincethen,computershavebecomeincreasinglyimportantasameansofmediatingcommunicationandsocialinteraction.Thereisnowagrowingrecognitionoftheneedfordesignofinteractivecomputersystemstoembracethesocialandorganizationalaspectsofhuman-technologyinteraction.Ourapproachtosystemdesignbuildsonpreviousworkinuser-centredsystemdesign,softsystems(Checkland&Scholes,1990),socio-technicalandcooperativedesign(Catterall,Taylor,&Galer,1991;Greenbaum&Kyng,1991;Sachs,1995)andtheapplicationofethnographytosystemdesign(seeRogersandBellotti(1997)forareview).Theprocessincludessomeexistingmethodsofknowledgeengineering,taskanalysisandobject-orienteddesign,butextendsandintegratestheseintoacoherentmethodologythatplacesequalemphasisonsoftware,task,knowledgeandorganizationalengineering.Socio-cognitiveengineeringhasadialecticalrelationshiptouser-centreddesign.Usersareimportantsourcesofdesigninformationandmaybepartnersinthedesignprocess.Interviewswithuserscanilluminateproblemsandbreakdownsintheircurrentworkandtechnology,aswellasmismatchesbetweendifferentviewpoints,suchasteacherandstudent,ormanagerandemployee.Usersareoftengoodatexpressingpreferencesandchoosingbetweencompetingproducts.Theymayoften,butnotalways,beabletoarticulatetheirmethodsofworking,thebasisfordecisionmakingandthewaysinwhichtheystructureanddeployknowledgeandskill.Theymayalsoprovideaguidetolanguageandterminology.Butusersarenotalwaysreliableinformants.Theymayidealizetheirmethods,describingthewaysinwhichtheywouldliketoorhavebeentoldtowork,ratherthantheiractualpractices.Althoughusersmaybeabletodescribetheirownstylesandstrategies,theymaynotbeawareofhowotherpeoplecanperformthetaskdifferentlyandpossiblymoreeffectively.Andbasingdesignonasurveyofuserpreferencescanresultinnewtechnologythatissimplyanaccumulationoffeatures,ratherthananintegratedsystem.Thus,socio-cognitiveengineeringdrawsontheknowledgeofpotentialusersandinvolvestheminthedesignprocess.Butitiscriticalofthereliabilityofuserreportsanditextendsbeyondindividualuserstogiveananalyticaccountofthecognitiveprocesses