Ethnographically-informed systems design for air traffic control

This paper relates experiences of a project where an ethnographic study of air traffic controllers is being used to inform the design of the controllers interface to the flight data base. We outline the current UK air traffic control system, discuss the ethnographic work we have undertaken studying air traffic control as a cooperative activity, describe some of the difficulties in collaboration between software developers and sociologists and show how the ethnographic studies have influenced the systems design process. Our conclusions are that ethnographic studies are helpful in informing the systems design process and may produce insights which contradict conventional thinking in systems design. KEYWORDS Air Traffic Control, Systems Design, Ethnography INTRODUCTION One of the most significant influences of CSCW has been to lend a respectability amongst software developers to sociological methods of empirical research. The contribution of sociology, and anthropology, is through the de...