.

A short Diary Study:

Departmental Administrators

Introduction

The aim of this report is to present the results collected from a diary study of X’s departmental administrators (DA’s). The report will provide a brief explanation of how the study was conducted, the results gathered and what was discovered from the study.

Based on this, the findings are then compared with Rouncefield, Hughes et al. 1994 and Hill, Long et al. 1993 research methods and results. The report will then conclude with a discussion on how design teams establish administrator’s needs and supporting technologies.

 

The Study

The objective of the diary study was to initially discover the type activities performed by departmental administrators, issues faces and providing possible solutions to those issues.

Crabtree states “ethnography has 2 main stages: exploration of the site and inspection of the data gathered” (William Newman, 2007). Therefore, the study involved departmental administrators at X completing a diary for a day, which was followed by an interview. The results were then compiled into a database for analysis and discussion.

Learning’s

Single Diary Study:

An initial meeting with a departmental DA was very useful in establishing the role and tasks of the DA’s at X. It provided background information on the work expectations of DA’s and the type of activities they performed.

Conducting the diary study allowed the collection of significant events in the day of the departmental administrator. It was particularly useful in identifying the various interactions with computers and issues that arise. The diary study form provided some structure to the data and ensured recordings of the duration of each task.

The data was then verified with a follow up interview, enabling better understanding of the tasks reported and allowed further questioning. The interview was voice recorded, which allowed for full data analysis afterward.

The diary study conducted was particularly useful in identifying emerging patterns, repetitive tasks or problems experienced by the departmental administrator during her day. It enabled better understanding of routines and a clearer look into manual and automated tasks.  It was also useful in understanding how DA’s planned their days, and if daily objectives were met.

Sharing the diary study:

Sharing the collected data in the database and discussing the outcomes of the diary study in a group allowed for identification of patterns between different departmental administrators especially identifying similar interactions and issues with computer systems used. It also enabled the data recorded to be analysed in more detail and allowed for prioritisation of the problem areas identified.

It became apparent from the discussions that the DA role in general involved a number of repetitive tasks, all DA’s had similar tasks to complete each day, for example, most DA’s spent an hour or so in the mornings dealing with e-mails and the post. Also, most DA’s stated that they found their biggest problem is having too many interruptions each day, which delayed tasks or distracted them.

Using this data and the discussions allowed the groups to create a number of needs statements and provided possible computerised solutions to the problems.

The diary Study Results:

Based on the results collected and analysed, it was clear that although some individual needs were identified a number of shared needs between the DA’s existed too.

The DA’s needed:

-                       To manage and complete tasks without constant distractions, such as unplanned visits, phone calls etc. Especially since the tasks were so varied.

-                       A way to better plan their day and week ahead taking into account how often they are interrupted

-                       An easier way to manage and deal with their emails and their department head’s emails, to help save time

-                       To better manage meetings, both formal and informal ones without prior arrangement.

-                       Better document management tools; as they dealt with too many documents every week and lost track of priority and timelines

-                       Better integrations of the different tools and portals used at X to help them save time and simplify the tasks.

-                       Faster applications as existing ones were too slow.

 

Figure 1. The DA’s needs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Identified Issues and Solutions

The identified needs were then grouped and presented in the form of “needs statements”:

 

Group	Needs statements	Possible Solution
Group A	DA’s faced a variety of diverse requests. Need to deal with efficiency by prioritising—4 agree	Have some form of logging system to determine types of documents
Group B	Main problem is learning. Less learning, faster access—2 agree	Responsibility sharing tool with milestones
Group C	Same as B, also better accuracy, deadlines need to get met, need to get responses from colleagues within short time frame—3 agree	Hand written information. Would need to consider how effective or feasible it is to put it online
Group D	Need to be able to manage incoming documents more efficiently. Need to work on complex documents without interruptions within short deadlines—3 agree	Automate repetitive paper work and possible shared electronic diary.
Group E	DA’s who are frequently interrupted need to complete information management tasks within daily deadlines—2 agree	Automate repetitive paper work and provide document management tools.

 

Figure 2. Need’s statements and possible IT solutions.

As we can see above, the majority of the needs and issues raised were time and information related. DA’s felt they dealt with many people, lots of information and did not have enough time. Although some issues were technology related and could be resolved by improving existing systems, new systems could be introduced which better meet the DA’s needs; helping them manage their time, data, people and tasks more effectively.

 

 

Comparing other research

 

 

The diary study was a form of research adopted from ethnography, enabling the study of people, culture, and processes.  If we are to look at similar diary studies conducting by other researches, we can see that related patterns emerge from the studies.

For example, looking at Rouncefield, Hughes et al. 1994 study “Working with “Constant Interruption”: CSCW and the Small Office “, a diary study was conducted to understand work practices, processes and interruptions which occur in small offices. By identifying patterns, IT based solutions would then be designed to be incorporated into the various roles.

Similar to the DA patterns identified, Rouncefield, Hughes et al, discovered that

“Endless paper work” disrupted the work patterns and affected staff from dealing with customers. There were many repetitive tasks and staff struggled to balance paper work with customer-based tasks.

 

Similar findings emerged from  Hill, Long et al. 1993 diary study research, in which a diary study was conducted to investigate interactive work system in medical receptions. Based on the study, 3 types of plans were identified: procedure, activity and task plan.  Designers would then use these to create systems to support these plans.

The study had similar findings to the DA study, as the medical receptionists had established behavioural patterns when carrying out activities, and had mental routines to carrying out tasks. This was similar to the DA’s who had daily routines, such as dealing with e-mails, using electronic databases, dealing with students etc

 

Both studies aimed to better understand the staff, their work and the context in which the work was being completed. As with the DA study, the aim is not to computerise tasks to reduce staff numbers, but to provide IT resources to support staff in their roles, speed up tasks, offer flexibility, reduce stress and better work balance.

Further to the DA study, the other 2 studies were able to follow the paper and computerised processes and fully document them, this is very important in identifying the main problem areas and providing solutions.

In the DA study, the data was all based on the one-day diary and the interview, so it did not provide enough insight into the exact processes or steps followed to help provide detailed systems design.

 

Similar to the DA findings Rouncerfield, Hughes et al paper identified that staff enjoyed the human contact, even though this in it self contributed to disruptions and initiated various paper work. We can see in the data gathered, that many of the DA’s enjoyed the face to face communication and felt this was part of their role; as they are there to offer support and services to their departments.

Ideally, by introducing systems into the DA’s current work processes, these computerised systems should help reduce paper work to enable them to spend more time on the area of work they enjoy and motivates them. For example, repetitive paper work such as interviews and appraisals can be automated to help speed up the process.

Discussion and conclusion

 

 

Also, based on the study and 2 papers discussed, it is clear that even though 27 administrators were used as participants; a one day diary did not provide enough evidence to help provide full view of the situation, as we were only able to base our findings and solutions on the tasks and issues faced during that one day.  However, the data collected did provide us with some insight into the daily working life of the DA’s and allowed us to identify some repetitive tasks and establish some patterns.  (Please see table 1).  But ideally, we should have been able to carry out the study over a longer period of time to allow us to collect more data.

As described by William Newman (2007) “The primary output from these studies has been a list of generic problems that occur in certain settings,” which the study certainly did provide as a starting point.

The results of the data can then be used to help establish requirements to enable designers to design better systems.

 

Other user centred data gathering methods compliment the diary study such as questionnaires for screening participants. Also, interviews were particularly useful in for further clarifying of data. Ideally, other stakeholders should be involved, such as other departmental staff, to enable better understanding of the situation and user needs.

Other methods such as video recordings would have been ideal to gather more data about the user behaviour and the environment. User observations would have been particularly useful in providing deeper understanding of the users, tasks and interactions with devices.

 

Following the data gathered and full data analysis, designers would be able use the data to identify the tasks performed, the goals behind them and the context in which they are carried out, allowing them to identify creative solutions to the problems.

Based on the findings, a list of requirements can be identified such as functional and non-functional requirements. Environmental requirements are especially important for considering the organisation’s over all needs and any policies or new procedures which may need to be implemented with the new systems.

Designers can also use use-case scenarios to focus on the interactions between the user and the system, to ensure the tools aid the interaction and not hinder it.

Designers can use Donald t. campbell’s (1960) creative model process in achieving their design goals (William Newman, 2007). The 2 main activities of the model are blind variation and selective retention, with testing taking place throughout the iterative process until a design is selected.

But designers may find them selves facing design issues and limitations, such as not having enough resources such as time, money and people.

 

In conclusion, diary studies can be inexpensive user centred methods to help identify problem situations and identify possible solutions, Palen & Salzman 2002 states “Diary studies are ecologically valid, as they can be used to record technology use within context over time”. Hence the method used for this study was appropriate allowing for better understanding of IT based issues facd by the DA’s.

Diary studies in general enable designers to design better solutions and more usable systems, taking into account the user needs and context of use.

 

The study allowed us to see the different issues the DA’s faced, and allowed us to see patterns in the type of tasks they do.  Based on the results we were able to present a number of possible solutions to their problems, but further analysis of the processes and interactions with the systems would enable us to provide more user centred solutions.

 

 

References:

 

Papers:

 

Hill, B., J. B. Long, et al. (1993). Planning for Multiple Task Work - an Analysis of a

Medical Reception Worksystem. InterCHI '1993. Amsterdam, ACM Press.

 

 

Rouncefield, M., J. A. Hughes, et al. (1994). Working with "Constant Interruption": CSCW and the Small Office. Proceedings of ACM CSCW'94 Conference on Computer- Supported Cooperative Work.

 

Czerwinski M, Horvitz E, wilhite, S . A Diary Study of Task Switching and Interruptions. Microsoft research.

 

Adler, A , Gujar, A , Harrison, B et al ( 1998)A Diary Study of Work-Related Reading: Design Implications for Digital Reading Devices. Xerox Palo alto research center. CHI98.                  

 

Brown,B ,Seilen, A ,O'Hara, K (2000). A Diary Study of Information Capture in Working Life. CHI 2000

 

Newman, W (2007) PoD Notes. ( Accessed 3 March 2008)

 

Websites:

 

What’s involved in technology planning? (Accessed on 3 March 2008) <http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/techplan/page4760.cfm>

 

Establish System Scope (Accessed on 22 February 2008)

<http://www.iconprocess.com/iconProcess/ueTemplateESS.php>

 

International diary studies (Accessed 22 February 2008)

<http://www.amber-light.co.uk/resources/whitepapers/international_diary_studies_amberlight.pdf>

 

Diary Methods (Accessed 24 February 2008)

<http://www.ucc.ie/hfrg/projects/respect/urmethods/diary.htm>

 

 

 

Appendix

 

The Background

 

Following the recruitment of participant, they were given a briefing session explaining the purpose of the study, what they were required to do and a consent form was signed. Participants were then given a diary form; the day of the study was agreed and the day before they were contacted to establish what they had planned for the day. Eg. Meetings, training etc. This was to ensure that the diary day had plans of a typical day and not for example a whole day of training and also to allow us to compare what they had initially planned and what they did actually complete on the day.

The diary form consisted of an activity list with the start time and end time to calculate the duration of each activity.

 

A debriefing interview took place following the diary day to collect further data. The interview was voice recorded to allow easy capture of the information discussed. The participants were questioned on the activities they listed for clarification and to help gather more information. The questioning method used a balance between main questions, follow ups and probes. (Rubi and Rubin, 2005 , p.171)