The coordinative functions of flight strips: air traffic control work revisited

ABSTRACT

Cooperation in time-critical and physically distributed work settings, such as air traffic control, requires extensive coordination between the involved actors. For this coordination to be efficient the controllers rely both on the comprehensive use of rules and procedures, and on artifacts supporting them in following these procedures. At the Copenhagen Air Traffic Control Center this coordination is largely carried out through the use of a flight plan database system, paper flight strips, and a closed-circuit television system. In relation to the introduction of a new and increasingly automated system in the year 2003 this paper discusses the coordinative functions served by these three, soon to be replaced, artifacts from a design perspective. Despite the skepticism expressed in previous research, our results show that a further computerization could be successful if the coordinative functions the system currently fulfills are properly preserved.

REFERENCES

• 1: R. Bentley , J. A. Hughes , D. Randall , T. Rodden , P. Sawyer , D. Shapiro , I. Sommerville, Ethnographically-informed systems design for air traffic control, Proceedings of the 1992 ACM conference on Computer-supported cooperative work, p.123-129, November 01-04, 1992, Toronto, Ontario, Canada [doi>10.1145/143457.143470]
• 2: Sara A. Bly , Steve R. Harrison , Susan Irwin, Media spaces: bringing people together in a video, audio, and computing environment, Communications of the ACM, v.36 n.1, p.28-46, Jan. 1993 [doi>10.1145/151233.151235]
• 3: Paul Dourish , Sara Bly, Portholes: supporting awareness in a distributed work group, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, p.541-547, May 03-07, 1992, Monterey, California, United States [doi>10.1145/142750.142982]
• 4: Mark B. Edwards , Carol A. Manning , Dana K. Fuller , O. U. Vortac, The role of flight progress strips in en route air traffic control: a time-series analysis, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, v.43 n.1, p.1-13, July 1995 [doi>10.1006/ijhc.1995.1033]
• 5: Eriksen, P., and A. Harvey: SweDen 98 Real-Time Simulation, Eurocontrol Experimental Centre, 1999.
• 6: FlightSafetyFoundation: 'Europe's ATM safety record remains stable,' Airport Operations, vol. 24, no. 3-4,1998, pp. 4-5.
• 7: William W. Gaver, The affordances of media spaces for collaboration, Proceedings of the 1992 ACM conference on Computer-supported cooperative work, p.17-24, November 01-04, 1992, Toronto, Ontario, Canada [doi>10.1145/143457.371596]
• 8: Halper, R., J. A. Hughes, D. Shapiro, and W. Sharrock: Ordering the Skies: The Sociology of Coordination Work, Routledge, London, 1994. - {Unpublished book draft}.
• 9: Harper, R. R., and J. A. Hughes: 'What a f--ing system! Send 'em all to the same place and then expect us to stop 'era hitting. Managing technology work in air traffic control,' in G. Button (ed.) Technology in Working Order. Studies of work, interaction, and technology, Routledge, London and New York, 1993, pp. 127-144.
• 10: Harper, R. R., J. A. Hughes, and D. Z. Shapiro: The Functionality of Flight Strips m ATC Work. The report for the Civil Aviation Authority, Lancaster Sociotechnics Group, Department of Sociology, Lancaster University, January, 1989.
• 11: Harper, R. R., J. A. Hughes, and D. Z. Shapiro: 'Working in harmony: An examination of computer technology in air traffic control,' in E-CSCW '89, Gatwick, London, 13- 15 September, 1989, 1989, pp. 73-86.
• 12: R. R. Harper , J. A. Hughes , D. Z. Shapiro, Harmonious working and CSCW: computer technology and air traffic control, Studies in computer supported cooperative work: theory, practice and design, North-Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1990
• 13: Christian Heath , Paul Luff, Disembodied conduct: communication through video in a multi-media office environment, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems: Reaching through technology, p.99-103, April 27-May 02, 1991, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States [doi>10.1145/108844.108859]
• 14: Heath, C., and P. Luff: 'Media space and communicative asylrmaetries: Preliminary observations of video mediated interaction,' J. of Human-Computer Interaction, 1992.
• 15: Hopkin, D.: 'Automated Flight Strip Usage: L~sons from the functions of paper strips," in Proc. from AIAA/NAS4/FAA/HFS symposium on challenges in aviation human factors: the national plan, Vienna, VA, 1991, pp. 62-64.
• 16: Hopkin, D.: Human Factors m Air Trajfic Control, Taylor & Francis Ltd, London, UK, 1995.
• 17: John Hughes , Val King , Tom Rodden , Hans Andersen, Moving out from the control room: ethnography in system design, Proceedings of the 1994 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work, p.429-439, October 22-26, 1994, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States [doi>10.1145/192844.193065]
• 18: John A. Hughes , David Randall , Dan Shapiro, Faltering from ethnography to design, Proceedings of the 1992 ACM conference on Computer-supported cooperative work, p.115-122, November 01-04, 1992, Toronto, Ontario, Canada [doi>10.1145/143457.143469]
• 19: Hughes, J. A., D. Randall, and D. Shapiro: 'From ethnographic record to system design: Some experiences from the field,' J. of CSCW, vol. 1, no. 3, 1993, pp. 123- 141.
• 20: Hughes, J. A., D. Z. Shapiro, W. W. Sharrock, and R. Anderson: The Automation of Air Traffic Control, Lancaster Sociotechnics Group, Department of Sociology, Lancaster University, Octol~, 1988.
• 21: Hiroshi Ishii , Minoru Kobayashi, ClearBoard: a seamless medium for shared drawing and conversation with eye contact, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, p.525-532, May 03-07, 1992, Monterey, California, United States [doi>10.1145/142750.142977]
• 22: I_xx:khart, K. J., and J. O. Pyburn: 'Departure Coordination Problems,' in 1EEE conf on Control Applications, Dayton, Ohio, 1992, pp. 425-430.
• 23: Marilyn M. Mantei , Ronald M. Baecker , Abigail J. Sellen , William A. S. Buxton , Thomas Milligan , Barry Wellman, Experiences in the use of a media space, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems: Reaching through technology, p.203-208, April 27-May 02, 1991, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States [doi>10.1145/108844.108888]
• 24: Bonnie A. Nardi , Heinrich Schwarz , Allan Kuchinsky , Robert Leichner , Steve Whittaker , Robert Sclabassi, Turning away from talking heads: the use of video-as-data in neurosurgery, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, p.327-334, April 24-29, 1993, Amsterdam, The Netherlands [doi>10.1145/169059.169261]
• 25: Randall, D., L A. Hughes, and D. Shapiro: 'Using Ethnography to Inform Systems Design,' Jr. of Intelligent Systems (UK), vol. 4, no. 1-2, 1994, pp. 9-28.
• 26: Schmidt, K.: Modes and Mechanisms of Interaction in Cooperative Work, RisO National Laboratory, P.O. Box 49, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark, 1994RisO-R-666(EN)}.
• 27: Schmidt, tC: The Discipline of Steel: Coordinating distributed activities in time-critical production, Forthcoming.
• 28: Kjeld Schmidt , Carla Simone, Coordination mechanisms: towards a conceptual foundation of CSCW systems design, Computer Supported Cooperative Work, v.5 n.2-3, p.155-200, 1996 [doi>10.1007/BF00133655]
• 29: Shapiro, D. Z., J. A. Hughes, D. Randall, and R. Harper: 'Visual re-representation of database information: The flight strip in air traffic control,' in M. J. Tauber, D. Mahling and F. Arefi (eds.): Cognitive Aspects of Visual Languages and Visual Interfaces, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1994.
• 30: Vortac, O. U., M. B. Edwards, and J. P. Jones: 'En Route Air Traffic Controllers' Use of Flight Progress Strips: A Graph-Theoretic Analysis,' Int. J. of Aviation Psychology, vol. 3, no. 4, 1993, pp. 327-343.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.4 INFORMATION SYSTEMS APPLICATIONS

  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

General Terms:
Experimentation, Management, Theory

Keywords:
CSCW, air traffic control, automation, closed-circuit television system, computerization, coordination, flight strips