Improving the Management of Interruption through the Working Awareness Interruption Tool: WAIT

Abstract

Interruptions in time-critical, dynamic and collaborative environments, such as Air Traffic Control (ATC), can provide valuable, task-relevant information. However, they also negatively impact task performance by distracting the operator from on-going tasks and consuming “attention resources”. It is hypothesized that operators in these environments could better manage when interruptions occur if there were indications of the availability of a collaborator and the priority of an interruption. The Working Awareness Interruption Tool (WAIT) is being developed to support more efficient and appropriate interruption timing in the context of complex, real-time, distributed, human operator interactions. Prototypes for application in operational ATC displays are presented as well as techniques used to develop the design requirements. Feedback on the initial prototypes was solicited through a Participatory Design (PD) interview process with air traffic controllers. The implications of the findings for the feasibility of an interruption awareness tool in real ATC environments are discussed.