Using digital information on the shop floor: requirements from the technician's perspective

The Galaxy Scientific Corporation conducted task analysis and job aiding research to identify the human factors issues related to communication and information flow in the turbine repair shop at Delta Air Lines. We created prototype software that was designed to support maintenance technicians working in the repair shop environment. The Turbine Repair Automated Control System (TRACS) was constructed to integrate a number of traditionally separate tasks, such as electronic sign-off on work cards, the ordering of parts, and the lookup of information in digital manuals. The current paper discusses the steps involved in designing the prototype and offers recommendations for approaching similar situations.