Collaboration and control: the introduction of multimedia technologies on London Underground

The authors have begun a project in collaboration with London Underground concerning the introduction of multimedia technologies into Line Control Rooms, a computer supported cooperative work environment. Focusing on the social organisation of cooperative work, the research is exploring how various personnel coordinate multiple tasks and utilise a complex array of tools and technologies. The investigation of cooperative work supported by complex technologies demands a rather different conceptual and methodological orientation than is commonly found within research on human-computer interaction. The analysis is no longer primarily concerned with the individual and the system, but rather the interaction between different personnel as they coordinate a range of tasks and utilise various tools. The ability to coordinate activities, and the process of interpretation and perception it entails, inevitably relies upon a social organisation