Understanding operators´ information needs for system design

The authors demonstrate how information and knowledge gathered in the field can be organized and structured using the functional information and knowledge acquisition (FIKA) modeling approach. Examples from the two very different domains of telecommunications and conventional power generation demonstrate the generic nature of the approach. These examples also illustrate that FIKA modeling can be used to support both human-centered functional requirements analysis and the development of knowledge-based systems. The first case, monitoring and maintenance of telephone switches, demonstrated how information gathered in switch monitoring and maintenance centers can be structured and used to infer what high-level support system functionality is required to support network operators. In the second case, observations of information and knowledge acquisition behavior of an expert operator during failure diagnosis, it is described how detailed knowledge can be acquired and structured using FIKA modeling concepts. In both cases it is demonstrated how FIKA modeling help to bridge the gap between field work and system design