Usability test and implications of an activity allocation mapping in complex organizations: perceptions about a software by emergency room agents
Abstract
Purpose
Properly allocating an organization's activities within a building is vital to reducing the relational complexity arising from process–environment interactions. Multiple relationships are mapped, and certain interferences are only identified after these have been processed. The method/software employed for this task is Mapping Activity Environment Allocation (MAEA). However, data input and interpretation of results depend on the usability conditions of the organization's agents. This paper presents MAEA's usability test results.
Design/methodology/approach
Test sessions and interviews were carried out with seven agents registered at a University Hospital. Participants were instructed to think aloud during its use, and immediately afterward, responded to semi-structured interviews. Test sessions were audio recorded and screen captured.
Findings
Participants found the software easy to use and pointed out valuable implications for professional and academic use. In addition to relationship, priority and parallelism data, customized visualizations were created, including organizational charts, flowcharts and activity flow routes on the floor plan.
Practical implications
MAEA's simplicity allows non-designers to conduct evidence-based assessments and decisions. It allows designers to test their proposals during the programming and outline proposal stages.
Social implications
A more detailed definition of design requirements from the beginning increases the conditions to successfully achieve project goals.
Originality/value
The ability to map the allocation of activity-spaces in the pre-design phase of building architecture allows for early identification of interactions, aiding in the development of more robust project requirements during programming.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the São Paulo State Research Foundation – FAPESP [grant numbers 2020/15909-8]; and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development – CNPq [grant number 304131/2020-2]. We are grateful to the University Hospital of the University of São Paulo for allowing the research and the professionals for agreeing to cooperate with the test and interview process. We are also grateful to Jean Amaro, Vitória Sanches Lemes Soares, Edson Prado Bomfim, and Daniela Cariolin Mazzi, Professor Leandro M. Reis Velloso and FAUUSP students for their data collection collaboration, and for developing and implementing program improvements.
Citation
Pereira, L.M. and Ornstein, S.W. (2024), "Usability test and implications of an activity allocation mapping in complex organizations: perceptions about a software by emergency room agents", Archnet-IJAR, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/ARCH-11-2023-0301
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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