Zeitschrift fur Arbeitswissenschaft最新文献

Although various studies deal with the special demands of interactive work, these have only rarely been examined from an integrated stressor and resource perspective (Bednarek 2014). Thus, previous research concentrated on investigating customers in their role as stressors.The aim of this article is to identify and categorise interaction-related stressors and resources and reflect their role in order to design interactive work in a humane and health-promoting way. As a first step, the research field was explored by means of a systematic literature analysis. Based on the results an explorative-qualitative study was conducted. The results show that interaction-related stressors particularly result from unfriendly or aggressive customer behaviour, high customer demands and traumatic experiences. Interaction-related resources refer to friendly clients who support service providers in their work and help them to experience their work as meaningful. Work design aspects include sufficient time and human resources as well as interaction-supporting work equipment.Practical relevance: With the development of a comprehensive taxonomy independent of economic sectors or occupations, the study creates a conceptual framework to design interactive work in a humane and health-promoting way. Four thematic fields with concrete design factors for interactive work are identified.

This article focuses on the collaboration of hybrid teams in avatar-based virtual office environments. Based on the three dimensions of virtuality, we pursue the following research questions: (1) How is everyday work and collaboration coordinated in these environments? and (2) Which advantages and challenges do users perceive in relation to this form of work? Based on a multi-method study consisting of qualitative interviews with experienced users and a participatory focus group discussion with new users, we illustrate that collaboration in avatar-based work environments is marked by a diverse array of work practices-ranging from co-present to mobile work-and that promising implementation methods exist to coordinate these practices. However, our results also suggest that to exploit this potential, not only the virtual environments but also teams' work practices and digital infrastructure must be further developed.Practical relevance: The study discusses virtuality based on a currently used avatar-based work environment and illustrates the perspectives of experienced and new users on collaboration in these socio-technical work systems. Specifically, we present concrete implementations and challenges of collaborative work practices in these virtual environments, which offer orientation for practitioners interested in applying these solutions to their own work contexts.

With the increase of telework during the COVID-19 pandemic, employees' interactions with colleagues have shifted almost exclusively to digital channels. Hence, it is critical to understand the underpinnings of successful collaboration and individual wellbeing in digital working structures. Combining qualitative experience reports and quantitative surveys from 145 teleworkers, this study sheds light on teleworking from a psychological perspective, taking social norms as a conceptual frame. The qualitative reports revealed five types of typical conflicts related to communication in the telework context, including both (1) technical problems (e.g., a bad connection) and psychological aspects such as (2) uncertainty or a lack of social feedback, (3) norm violations, (4) a lack of rules or meta-communication about appropriate behavior, and (5) digital communication barriers. Respondents' quantitative ratings of qualities of telework versus working on-site revealed benefits of telework regarding task fulfillment and efficiency, but lower levels of motivation, conflict management, leadership, team spirit, inspiration and creativity. Participants qualitative reports on perceived challenges in remote work conditions included feelings of loneliness and increased demands related to self-management, creating boundaries between private and working life, motivation and self-regulation. This paper connects these findings with theoretical concepts from psychology and human-computer interaction and discusses implications for leadership and technology design. Practical Relevance: This article discusses practical implications for leadership and technology design, e.g., interventions against conflicts in the context of digital work.

Software runs our modern day lives: our shopping, our transport and our medical devices. Hence, no citizen can escape the consequences of poor software engineering. A closely-aligned concern, which also touches every aspect of our lives, is cyber security. Software has to be developed with cybersecurity threats in mind, in order to design resistance and resilience into the software, given that they are often rooted in malicious human behaviour. Both software engineering and cyber security disciplines need to acknowledge and accommodate humans, not expect perfect performances. This is a position paper, delineating the extent of the challenge posed by this reality, and suggesting ways for accommodating the influence of human nature on secure software engineering. Practical Relevance: Socio-technical systems are made up of people, processes and technology. All can fail or be suboptimal. Software itself, being designed, developed and used by humans, is likely to malfunction. This could be caused by human error, or by malice. This paper highlights this reality, taking a closer look at all of the possible sources of malfunctioning technology. By doing so, I hope to infuse the management of socio-technical systems with an understanding and acknowledgement of this reality.

In this article, we highlight current research directions in the Technikpsychologie research area, using the example of the interdisciplinary research work of FAI (Work and Engineering Psychology Research Group at the Technical University of Darmstadt) and the articles included in this special issue. To this end, we relate the articles in this special issue from the research areas of road traffic planning (Hupfer et al.), usable IT security and privacy solutions (Renaud), social aspects of technically mediated communication (Diefenbach), human-centered interface design (Mucha et al.), aviation safety (Santel), human-centered design of autonomous vehicles (Lindner & Stoll), and perceptual psychology-oriented product design (Zandi & Khanh) to current research projects at FAI. Practical Relevance Technical products only offer added value by efficiently supporting users in achieving their goals if they have been developed appropriately for the context of use and the individual characteristics of the users. The human-centered design of-especially technical-products reflects this through an iterative and participatory development process. In this article, we describe nine examples of such human-centered design of technology products. The research results and the methods presented provide insights for developers and decision-makers in the fields of transportation, IT, vehicle development and general product design.

The publication presents an overview of the use of digital human models (DHM) in academic education at five exemplary universities in Germany and Austria. In addition to the presentation of different human models, the integration of them into the respective lectures is discussed. The teaching concepts of the individual courses of the universities, exercise examples and scenarios are presented. Experience shows that the active and independent use of digital ergonomics tools gives students pleasure and motivates them to deal intensively with complex tasks in terms of time and content. Feedback is consistently positive over all the involved lectures and universities. As a consequence of the recent Covid-19 pandemic, universities significantly increased online and blended learning. Based on the experience with the use of digital human models, the paper derives recommendations for future developments. Practical Relevance To sustain global value chains, companies are increasingly planning trans-regionally adapted products and production processes. Tools for digital ergonomics contribute to increasing competitiveness by using prospective working methods. Companies increasingly need experts with the corresponding know-how. Firmly anchoring the topic of digital ergonomics in relevant subjects of university teaching is therefore a prerequisite for this transfer of trained graduates.

As the COVID-19 pandemic progressed, the USB family made it possible for their administrative staff to work from home. Support measures for mobile working were implemented and supported by a company works agreement. A longitudinal survey is conducted to accompany these measures. The first results of the first survey are presented here. The aim of this survey is to compare the pre-Corona working situation without home office (2/2020) with the working situation during Corona-after the introduction of home office (10/2020). 68 people took part in the anonymous online survey. 41.2% of the participants work exclusively in the office, the remainder works partly/completely from home. Half of the latter do this due to a direct order. In the course of a retrospective survey the following becomes evident. 91.0% score occupational safety as equal or better. The participants save an average of 2.3 h per week. Small negative effects can be observed in the exchange of information and availability (Cohen's d both -0.27). The desire to exchange ideas privately with colleagues increases to a small extent (Cohen's d = 0.22). There is no increase in delimitation and overtime by colleagues. An effect of close to medium strength can be seen in the work-life balance (Cohen's d = 0.49); satisfaction increases here. A medium effect towards an improvement can be found in undisturbed work (Cohen's d = 0.66). The result shows a small effect in terms of increasing satisfaction with the work situation (Cohen's d = 0.24). 85.3% state that they can do the job equally well or better in October than in February. Due to the altered situation participants will save an average of 5.9 km of travel per week.Practical Relevance: Improved understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of switching to mobile working in a medium-sized company.

In the course of technological progress, analog solutions are increasingly replaced by digital ones. In this context, novel visualization options, such as Augmented Reality (AR), are more and more important. However, handling AR-based information displays can lead to performance losses and increased physical as well as psychological strain if the design is incompatible. Due to rapid technological advancements, existing ergonomic and user-centered guidelines and legal regulations can only support the design and usability of such systems to a limited extent. This paper presents a practical example by showing to what extent a cyber-physical set-up application in the form of a head-mounted display complies with or meets the applicable interaction ergonomics and compatibility standards in the context of industrial activities and gesture-controlled, binocular AR systems.Practical Relevance: The results presented play an important role in practice, since the system presented is intended to support workers in complex set-up and assembly processes. Based on these findings and with the help of further optimization possibilities the aim is to achieve a process-safe, value-adding and strain-minimizing use of AR systems in industrial environment.