Review of Cognitive work analysis

Abstract

If the book reviews that generally find their way on to this page of the Bulletin are any indication, then the majority of readers of this column are researching or practicing usercentred design for consumer or mass-market applications. From this context, this month’s book (Kim Vicente’s Cognitive Work Analysis) is somewhat different. This is not a book of design guidelines or techniques, but a book of engineering analysis. His examples do not come from popular websites, but from the world of process control. If viewed only in terms of these differences, it is not likely that this book will have an audience in the readers of this column. However, despite the gulf between Vicente’s research grounds and our common areas of practice, there is much in this book that is important and transferable to our practice.