Designing for Adaptation in Workers’ Individual Behaviors and Collective Structures With Cognitive Work Analysis: Case Study of the Diagram of Work Organization Possibilities

OBJECTIVE: We demonstrate that the diagram of work organization possibilities, a recent addition to cognitive work analysis, can be used to develop designs that promote adaptation in the workplace. BACKGROUND: Workers in sociotechnical systems adapt not just their individual behaviors but also their collective structures in dealing with instability, uncertainty, and unpredictability in their tasks. However, conventional design approaches are limited in supporting adaptations in both workers’ behaviors and structures, especially during unforeseen situations. The work organization possibilities diagram has the potential to meet these requirements, but its value for design has not been established. METHOD: We present a case study of a future system for maritime surveillance that provides an analytical demonstration of the utility of the diagram for design and empirical validation of the impact, uniqueness, and feasibility of this approach in an industrial setting. RESULTS: This application results in a team design that is integrated with the career and training progression pathway of the crew in a way that maximizes the system’s behavioral and structural possibilities for adaptation. Further, the approach has impact on practice, makes a distinct contribution to design relative to other techniques, and is implemented feasibly in an industrial setting. CONCLUSION: The work organization possibilities diagram can contribute to the development of an integrated system design that supports actors’ possibilities for behavioral and structural adaptation in a unified fashion. APPLICATION: This research provides a basis for designing interfaces, teams, training, and automation that preserve a system’s inherent capacity for adaptation.