A review and reappraisal of electronic performance monitoring, performance standards and stress allowances

There is a growing trend toward electronic performance monitoring (EPM) to track the performance of workers engaged in computer-based tasks. Despite the possible productivity advantages of this approach to work management, the use of EPM may produce stress through work overload, negative computer feedback, loss of incentive pay and threat of job loss. These stress effects are most likely to occur among workers who have difficulty meeting work standards (eg, forms processed per hour) enforced through EPM. A stress allowance is proposed as a new category of work allowance for adjusting EPM work standards so as to minimize imbalances between task demands and the worker's resources to adapt.     

Effect of job demands and social support on worker stress: a study of VDT users

This study examined the effect of job demands (quantitative workload and computer-related problems) and social support (supervisor and co-worker support) on stress of VDT users. A survey questionnaire was administered to employees of three public service organizations. Two-hundred and sixty-two office workers participated in this study. Results showed that job demands (quantitative workload and computer-related problems) had a direct effect on psychological complaints of VDT users. On the other hand, co-worker support did not affect worker stress. Supervisor support was a buffer against worker stress both in the low and high job demands conditions. However, supervisor support did not have any interactive buffering effect on the relationship between job demands and worker stress.     

Employee stress and health complaints in jobs with and without electronic performance monitoring

Current applications of electronic performance monitoring based on job design theories that consider worker performance rather than stress issues are likely to generate unsatisfying and stressful jobs (Smith et al, 1986). This study examines critical job design elements that could influence worker stress responses in an electronic monitoring context. A questionnaire survey of employees in telecommunications companies representative of each region in the United States examined job stress in directory assistance, service representative and clerical jobs with specific emphasis on the influence of electronic monitoring of job performance, satisfaction and employee health. Useable surveys were received from 745 employees representing seven operating companies and AT & T; a response rate of about 25%. The results of this survey indicated that employees who had their performance electronically monitored perceived their working conditions as more stressful, and reported higher levels of job boredom, psychological tension, anxiety, depression, anger, health complaints and fatigue. It is postulated that these effects may be related to changes in job design due to electronic performance monitoring.     

Examining the relationship between job design and worker strain over time in a sample of office workers

This study examines relationships between job design variables and worker strain. Office workers from a public service organization participated in a three-year study. Once during each of the three years, the same questionnaire was handed out to the subjects to examine job design and worker strain. The results indicate that the bivariate relationships between job design and worker strain change over time. At round 1, quantitative workload, work pressure and supervisor social support were the most important predictors of the worker strain variables. At round 2, task clarity, supervisor social support, and job future ambiguity were the most important predictors of worker strain. At round 3, task clarity, attention, and job future ambiguity were the most consistent predictors of worker strain. The results of the canonical correlation analysis were relatively similar for rounds 1 and 3, but not for round 2. There appears to be some consistency in the overall underlying structure of the relationships between job design and worker strain, but there is also some inconsistency in terms of which specific job design factors are related to specific measures of worker strain.     

Effects of pen design on drawing and writing performance

Two experiments are reported with the aim of determining the effect of pen shape and size on two different types of task: drawing and writing. Experiment 1 attempted to determine the optimum shape and size of shank for ball-point pens used to perform an accurate drawing task. Twenty-seven participants used a total of nine different pens. Drawing performance was measured by having the subjects follow mazes of different size. The dependent variables were drawing movement time and drawing accuracy. The results indicate that the pen with an equivalent diameter of 8 mm had the best accuracy during drawing, even though it had the lowest speed. The results confirm the applicability and validity of the Drury tracking model for such a task. Even though users tended to prefer larger pens, their accuracy with such pens tended to be low.In a second experiment, subjects performed a writing task (with no accuracy constraints) and rated their preference for types of pen. An attempt was made to determine the preferred dimensions of ball-point pens for writing in Chinese and English. A total of 36 ‘bare-bodied’ pens and 20 Chinese subjects were used to evaluate the effects of shape, size and weight on time to write a sentence. The Writing Ability, Comfort and an Overall Rating were given by the subjects. The results indicate that the Chinese subjects preferred a circular shaped pen for writing in both languages. A factor analysis showed that speed, comfort and writing ability are independent parameters in pen evaluations.     

A strategy for improving worker satisfaction and job attitudes in a repetitive industrial task: application of production standards and performance feedback

Worker satisfaction improved significantly as a consequence of the provision of the assigned and participative standards with performance feedback in a repetitive industrial production task. The maximum improvement in worker satisfaction was found for the participative standard and feedback condition. Only this condition had a significant positive effect on worker job attitudes. Monetary incentive, when provided with an assigned or participative standard with feedback, added no incremental worker satisfaction or job attitudes gain. The participative standard with feedback condition emerges as the optimum strategy for improving worker satisfaction and job attitudes in a repetitive industrial production task.     

A strategy for improving worker satisfaction and job attitudes in a repetitive industrial task: application of production standards and performance feedback

Worker satisfaction improved significantly as a consequence of the provision of the assigned and participative standards with performance feedback in a repetitive industrial production task. The maximum improvement in worker satisfaction was found for the participative standard and feedback condition. Only this condition had a significant positive effect on worker job attitudes. Monetary incentive, when provided with an assigned or participative standard with feedback, added no incremental worker satisfaction or job attitudes gain. The participative standard with feedback condition emerges as the optimum strategy for improving worker satisfaction and job attitudes in a repetitive industrial production task.     

Seven case studies on computerization: Effects on work organization,job content,and qualification structure

This paper deals with empirical findings in different types of computerized systems. The purpose of the studies is to find out what is specific to the process of computerization compared to other examples of automation and other aspects of social development. The qualification problem is treated from three different approaches and analyzed in the seven case studies.The author's main argument is, that in many cases different aspects of the process of social change which often are related solely or primarily to the process of computerization should rather be related to other facets of technological and social development. Automation is not an abstract matter of “Man Mastering Nature”, but an economical oriented trial of managers to master the variations of the working system including the human variabilities.The point is, that work organization is an independent variable and not just a consequence of computerization. To change work organization should not be regarded only as a problem of designing the man-machine system in an appropriate way, but a problem of changing the whole social system, for instance under the influence of the unions.     

Effects of age and gender on remote pointing performance and their design implications

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of age and sex on remote pointing movements. In addition, an attempt was made to incorporate possible age-related or sex differences into the design of a remote pointing user interface. The subjects were recruited from three age groups (elderly, middle-aged, and young) with equal number of both sexes. The participants were required to perform cursor positioning tasks using a remote pointing device. Their static hand stability and remote positioning time were recorded and analyzed. The remote positioning time was further separated into two components: initial submovement duration and adjustment submovement duration. The results reveal that age-related effects reduced the subjects' ability to perform remote pointing tasks and also maintained hand stability. However, sex differences had no significant effect on either performance. Moreover, the results also reveal that remote positioning movements for the young group were mostly completed in their initial submovement phase, while the elderly subjects spent most of their movement time on the fine adjustment phase. In light of the fact that different age groups exhibit different kinds of movement behavior patterns, suggestions for the design of signal sensitivity, target features, and display/control gain in remote pointing user interface were outlined.

Relevance to industry

Investigations on the variation in physical and psychomotor capabilities between the sexes and between different age groups which affect remote pointing performance will facilitate the design of remote pointing user interface. This study investigated the effects of age on remote pointing actions and outlined some suggestions for the design of remote pointing user interface.     

基于Web的求职招聘系统分析与设计

基于Web的求职招聘系统为求职者和招聘者提供了一个虚拟化、智能化的人才市场,其主要目的是为了拉近求职者和应聘者之间的距离。根据不同的权限,用户可以进行相应的操作,完成各自的需求。文章借助UML统一建模语言对基于Web的求职招聘系统进行了面向对象的分析与设计,其主要内容包括需求分析、类设计、交互性设计等。在具体的分析设计过程中,给出了系统用例图、管理类图、求职类图、招聘类图、注册时序图和修改信息活动图等。     

The influence of design aesthetics in usability testing: Effects on user performance and perceived usability

This article examined the effects of product aesthetics on several outcome variables in usability tests. Employing a computer simulation of a mobile phone, 60 adolescents (14-17 yrs) were asked to complete a number of typical tasks of mobile phone users. Two functionally identical mobile phones were manipulated with regard to their visual appearance (highly appealing vs not appealing) to determine the influence of appearance on perceived usability, performance measures and perceived attractiveness. The results showed that participants using the highly appealing phone rated their appliance as being more usable than participants operating the unappealing model. Furthermore, the visual appearance of the phone had a positive effect on performance, leading to reduced task completion times for the attractive model. The study discusses the implications for the use of adolescents in ergonomic research.     

Effects of stress and effort on self-rated reports in experimental study of design activities

This paper investigates the relationships between subjective rating measure and physiological measure of mental stress and mental effort during design activities. Mental stress and mental effort were captured by skin conductance and EEG beta2 power (20–30 Hz) whereas self-rated mental stress and self-rated mental effort were obtained using the NASA Task Load Index. A strong association between self-rated effort and EEG beta2 power was found in several design tasks. The analysis shows that self-rating is by itself a mental activity which may be affected by psychological stress and may be influenced by the amount of cognitive effort allocated. Researchers who rely on subjective rating should take into account the stress and effort of respondents during the rating activities to ensure the validity of the self-report measures. The study also demonstrated that design tasks induced mental stress that continued to stay above the baseline even after the tasks were completed.     

Effects of display design on performance in a simulated ship navigation environment

Although automation is playing an increasing role on the ship's bridge, empirical research on the effectiveness of alternative bridge designs is limited. In this paper, we describe an experimental study of the benefits of integrated information display, using a computerized simulation of a highly automated ship's bridge. The study compared three types of interface design, which presented radar and electronic chart information to the operator in different ways: (a) integrated display, (b) functionally-separate display, and (c) spatially-separate display. Effects were examined in relation to time on watch and scenario complexity. Following extensive training on the task, 39 participants were tested over a 4-h experimental session, during which they encountered a sequence of collision scenarios of varying complexity. Using a dual-task methodology, a range of measures of primary and secondary task performance were taken, together with assessment of information sampling behaviour and subjective operator state (workload, fatigue, anxiety and situation awareness). The results indicated slight navigational advantages of the integrated display over the two alternative display types, although it also incurred higher levels of operator cost, particularly fatigue. There were no marked effects of time on watch, but more complex scenarios were associated with impaired performance, increased workload and reduced situation awareness. Overall, the findings have suggested some benefits of integrating primary information sources in a ship's bridge environment. The study further confirms the value of experimental simulations as tools for investigating design issues for ship's bridge automation.     

The effect of office concepts on worker health and performance: a systematic review of the literature

Conventional and innovative office concepts can be described according to three dimensions: (1) the office location (e.g. telework office versus conventional office); (2) the office lay-out (e.g. open lay-out versus cellular office); and (3) the office use (e.g. fixed versus shared workplaces). This review examined how these three office dimensions affect the office worker's job demands, job resources, short- and long-term reactions. Using search terms related to the office concept (dimensions), a systematic literature search starting from 1972 was conducted in seven databases. Subsequently, based on the quality of the studies and the consistency of the findings, the level of evidence for the observed findings was assessed. Out of 1091 hits 49 relevant studies were identified. Results provide strong evidence that working in open workplaces reduces privacy and job satisfaction. Limited evidence is available that working in open workplaces intensifies cognitive workload and worsens interpersonal relations; close distance between workstations intensifies cognitive workload and reduces privacy; and desk-sharing improves communication. Due to a lack of studies no evidence was obtained for an effect of the three office dimensions on long-term reactions. The results suggest that ergonomists involved in office innovation could play a meaningful role in safeguarding the worker's job demands, job resources and well-being. Attention should be paid, in particular, to effects of workplace openness by providing acoustic and visual protection.     

Effects of display design on performance in a simulated ship navigation environment

Although automation is playing an increasing role on the ship's bridge, empirical research on the effectiveness of alternative bridge designs is limited. In this paper, we describe an experimental study of the benefits of integrated information display, using a computerized simulation of a highly automated ship's bridge. The study compared three types of interface design, which presented radar and electronic chart information to the operator in different ways: (a) integrated display, (b) functionally-separate display, and (c) spatially-separate display. Effects were examined in relation to time on watch and scenario complexity. Following extensive training on the task, 39 participants were tested over a 4-h experimental session, during which they encountered a sequence of collision scenarios of varying complexity. Using a dual-task methodology, a range of measures of primary and secondary task performance were taken, together with assessment of information sampling behaviour and subjective operator state (workload, fatigue, anxiety and situation awareness). The results indicated slight navigational advantages of the integrated display over the two alternative display types, although it also incurred higher levels of operator cost, particularly fatigue. There were no marked effects of time on watch, but more complex scenarios were associated with impaired performance, increased workload and reduced situation awareness. Overall, the findings have suggested some benefits of integrating primary information sources in a ship's bridge environment. The study further confirms the value of experimental simulations as tools for investigating design issues for ship's bridge automation.     

The design and implementation of Visuel performance monitoring and analysis toolkit for cluster and grid environments

The computing power provided by high performance and low-cost PC-based clusters with Grid platforms are attractive and they are equal or superior to supercomputers and mainframes. In this paper, we present implementation and design rationale of Visuel toolkit for MPI parallel program performance measurement and analysis in cluster and grid environments. Most of performance visualization tools available today for high-performance platforms show solely system performance data (e.g., CPU load, memory usage, network bandwidth, server average load), and thus, being suitable for computing system activity visualization. The Visuel (Visuel (in French language) = to visualize) toolkit is web-based interface designed to show performance activities of all computing nodes of a distributed environment involved in the execution of MPI parallel program, such as CPU load level and memory usage of each computing node. In addition, this toolkit is able to display comparative performance data charts of MPI parallel applications and multiple executions under investigation. The usage of this toolkit shows that it outperforms in easing the process of investigation of parallel applications.

GAMESH: A grid architecture for scalable monitoring and enhanced dependable job scheduling

Grid computing is a largely adopted paradigm to federate geographically distributed data centers. Due to their size and complexity, grid systems are often affected by failures that may hinder the correct and timely execution of jobs, thus causing a non-negligible waste of computing resources. Despite the relevance of the problem, state-of-the-art management solutions for grid systems usually neglect the identification and handling of failures at runtime. Among the primary goals to be considered, we claim the need for novel approaches capable to achieve the objectives of scalable integration with efficient monitoring solutions and of fitting large and geographically distributed systems, where dynamic and configurable tradeoffs between overhead and targeted granularity are necessary. This paper proposes GAMESH, a Grid Architecture for scalable Monitoring and Enhanced dependable job ScHeduling. GAMESH is conceived as a completely distributed and highly efficient management infrastructure, concentrating on two crucial aspects for large-scale and multi-domain grid environments: (i) the scalable dissemination of monitoring data and (ii) the troubleshooting of job execution failures. GAMESH has been implemented and tested in a real deployment encompassing geographically distributed data centers across Europe. Experimental results show that GAMESH (i) enables the collection of measurements of both computing resources and conditions of task scheduling at geographically sparse sites, while imposing a limited overhead on the entire infrastructure, and (ii) provides a failure-aware scheduler able to improve the overall system performance, even in the presence of failures, by coordinating local job schedulers at multiple domains.     

仓储电子标签辅助拣货系统的研究与设计

介绍了一种电子标签辅助拣货系统,提出了分层分级的设计思想,为大型仓储快速拣货的需要提供了可行的解决方案.设计了中间控制层和终端电子标签,系统通过RS485通信,指令数据传输稳定,通信距离远.