Computer aided estimating for civil engineering contractors

At the start of the research the impact of computers upon the world of estimating for civil engineering works had been minimal and barely touched the six thousand middle sized companies within the construction industry, The challenge of the research was to: -determine the requirements of a computer aided estimating system for civil engineering estimators: -to design a system to meet those requirements; -to produce and field test the system: -to explore the use of estimator's data within other functions within the contractor's organization, A study and critical appraisal of previous research and the six types of existing estimating systems was made to determine why computers have failed to make an impact upon this area of the construction industry, The estimating and tendering process was examined by interviewing eight estimators from three different civil engineering companies a minimum of four times over a period of one year. Eleven existing methods of task analysis were examined, were found satisfactory for the analysis of the estimator's tasks for the purpose of the research, A hybrid method of analysis was developed which was used to analyse the estimator's tasks for the purpose of producing a Specification for a computer aided estimating system, The system was produced by an iterative method of design, development, testing and re-design until an acceptable solution was reached, The system was tested by: -installing a minicomputer within the estimating department of a civil engineering contractor's organization and inviting six estimators to test and comment on the system; -demonstrating the system to individuals and groups of practising estimators from forty construction companies where comments on all aspects were noted, As a result of the research a computer aided estimating system that was acceptable to civil engineering estimators was produced, To date eight such systems have been installed within contractor's offices and this fact gives some indication of the success in meeting this main objective. The other outcome of this work is: the determination of the implementation and user support requirements for the introduction of computer aided estimating systems into contractor's organizations; the production of user support facilities for the system including a comprehensive user manual and training programmes for the system, In addition the work has created a platform for the construction of a completed linked suite of construction management programmes unavailable before because of the paucity of existing computer aided estimating systems

Development of a user-centred design methodology to accommodate changing hardware and software user requirements in the sports domain

The research presented in this thesis focuses on the development of wireless, real time performance monitoring technology within the resistance training domain. The functionality of current performance monitoring technology and differences in monitoring ability is investigated through comparative force platform, video and accelerometer testing and analysis. Determining the complexity of resistance training exercises and whether performance variable profiles such as acceleration, velocity and power can be used to characterise lifts is also investigated. A structured user-centred design process suitable for the sporting domain is proposed and followed throughout the research to consider the collection, analysis and communication of performance data. Identifying the user requirements and developing both hardware and software to meet the requirements also forms a major part of the research. The results indicate that as the exercise complexity increases, the requirement for sophisticated technology increases. A simple tri-axial accelerometer can be used to monitor simple linear exercises at the recreational level. Gyroscope technology is required to monitor complex exercises in which rotation of the bar occurs. Force platform technology is required at the elite level to monitor the distribution of force and resultant balance throughout a lift (bilateral difference). An integrated system consisting of an Inertial Measurement Unit (both accelerometer and gyroscope technology) and a double plate force platform is required to accurately monitor performance in the resistance training domain at the elite level

Supporting ergonomics in concept design

Supporting ergonomics in concept desig

Käyttäjäkeskeisen tuotekehitysorganisaation tietotuki – Pohdintoja "Knowledge Storage" –tiedonhallintaympäristön toteutuksen ja arvioinnin perusteella

User-centred development of interactive systems and devices has received increasing importance in product development organisations. So far, the answer from the usability engineering community has been the offering of different types of methods that can be applied during the development work in different stages of the development process. As the amount of applicable methods increase and the stakeholder population utilising these methods broadens, support for the management of this usability engineering work becomes important. This includes considerations about the arrangement of the organisation performing the development work as well as the tools and methods that supports this. The objective of this study is the modelling and construction of information support for product development that takes user-centred issues into consideration. The main research question of the study is "What kind of information management system can provide support for user-oriented product development?" Boundaries for the main research question are presented with the focus areas of the work that point out insights from the organisational standpoint as well as from the standpoint of the methods and tools. The methodological standpoint has a longer tradition in the HCI field than the organisational one. In the literature review part of this thesis, methods that are used rather widespread are introduced in order to find out the characteristics and requirements that they point out for the surrounding information support systems and the hosting organisation. The organisational standpoint is studied and reflected in the three empirical studies that illustrate the contemporary arrangement and organisation of product development. Product development is addressed also in the literature review. Building on the findings, a framework of the characteristics for a hosting organisation is presented. The framework consists of five levels: organisational orientation (values, attitude), life-cycle considerations (business/process/product), generic development support (methods and tools), quality instructions (organisation-specific adjustments of the generic level), and information support (operative level). This framework points out the position of an information support system in the organisational surroundings. After this 'positioning', more detailed modelling, design and implementation of the supporting information support system, the "Knowledge Storage" is presented. The results from the construction and evaluation of the Knowledge Storage point out needs for information support applications (developer community, roles, awareness, contribution evaluation). The results also reveal difficulties in the making of these kinds of applications attached to real development projects and activities (migration of existing knowledge base, 'suitable' project, application integration, implementation of baseline functionality vs. value-added features).Käyttäjäkeskeisyyden merkitys tuotekehitystoiminnan yhtenä suunnittelunäkökulmana on kasvanut viimeisen vuosikymmenen aikana merkittävästi. Käyttäjäkeskeistä suunnittelua painottavan tutkimusyhteisön tarjooma käytännön suunnittelutyölle on perinteisesti ollut joukko erilaisia suunnittelumenetelmiä, joita on mahdollista hyödyntää eri vaiheissa suunnittelua. Menetelmien määrä samoin kuin niitä hyödyntävien suunnitteluosapuolten määrä onkin näiden johdosta kasvanut. Tämä on luonut tilanteen, jossa käyttäjäkeskeisten menetelmien soveltamista ja niillä kerättyä tietoa on tarpeen hallita entistä systemaattisemmin keinoin. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on käyttäjäkeskeisen tuotekehityksen tueksi soveltuvan tietotukiympäristön mallintaminen, kehittäminen ja arviointi. Tutkimuksen pääkysymys on: "Millainen tiedonhallinnan järjestely voi tarjota tukea käyttäjäsuuntautuneelle tuotekehitykselle?" Pääkysymystä tarkentavat rajaukset nostavat esiin kaksi näkökulmaa: organisatorisen ja välineellisen. Metodiikkapainotteisella näkökulmalla on vahvempi perinne ihminen-tietokone-vuorovaikutuksen tutkimusalueella kuin organisatorispainotteisella. Työn kirjallisuuskatsauksessa tarkastellaankin yleisesti sovellettuja käyttäjäkeskeisen suunnittelun menetelmiä hakemalla niistä piirteitä ja vaatimuksia, joita niiden soveltaminen asettaa ympäröivälle organisaatiolle. Organisatorista näkökulmaa tarkastellaan kirjallisuuskatsauksessa tuotekehitystoiminnan yleisten piirteiden kautta sekä lisäksi kolmen empiirisen nykyaikaista tuotekehitystoimintaa selvittävän tutkimuksen avulla. Selvitysten tulosten perusteella työssä kehitetään viitekehys, jonka avulla tarkastellaan käyttäjäkeskeisesti toimivan organisaation edellytyksiä soveltaa käyttäjäkeskeistä suunnittelua ja siihen liittyvää tietotukea. Viitekehyksessä tunnistetaan viisi elementtiä: organisatorinen suhtautuminen (arvostukset, asenne), elinkaaritarkastelut (liiketoiminta/prosessit/tuotteet), toiminnan yleisen tason välineistäminen (menetelmät), laatuohjeistus (organisaatiokohtainen menetelmien soveltaminen) ja toiminnan operatiivisen tason tietotuki. Viitekehys sijoittaakin tietotukiratkaisut laajempaan organisatoriseen ympäristöön. Viitekehyksen esittämisen jälkeen työssä esitetään "Knowledge Storage" -tietotukiratkaisun kehittäminen. Tulokset tästä kehitystyöstä osoittavat vaatimuksia organisatorisessa viitekehyksessä toimiville tietotukiratkaisuille (yhteisöllisyys, roolijako, tilannetietoisuus, palaute yksilöllisistä kontribuutioista). Tulokset nostavat esiin myös merkittäviä haasteita ja vaikeuksia tämän tyyppisten ratkaisujen kokeilussa ja toimivuuden arvioinnissa todellisten käytännön projektien yhteydessä (aiemman tietoainespohjan hyödyntäminen, sopivan luonteinen projekti, perustoiminnallisuusvaade vs. uusi lisäarvoa tuottava toiminnallisuus).reviewe

Interactive estimating for building contractors

The objective of this work was to develop a computer-aided estimating system to meet the specific requirements of the British building industry. The sponsor was the National Research Development Corporation. The project comprised: -a review of existing commercially available computer-aided estimating systems suitable for use by building contractors to establish the need for the project; -a review of computer applications in the construction industry to establish the context in which computer-aided estimating systems could be applied; -the development of a computer-aided estimating system specification for a system, INTEREST BUILD (INTERactive ESTimating for BUILDers), suitable for programming work by computer programmers; -an appraisal and review of available classification systems for use with the estimating system; -the development of a classification specifically for use with the INTEREST BUILD system against which performance data could be filed and retrieved; -the collection of estimators' performance data suitable for use in demonstrating and testing the system; and -the demonstrations, testing .and assessments of the INTEREST BUILD.system. <~,. Five commercially available estimating systems were investigated and none were found to fully meet the needs of building estimators. A review of computer applications for contractors revealed that existing applications in order of popularity were: accounting; network analysis; costing; cash flow forecasting; estimating; NEDO formulae; valuations; and discounted cash flow. [continues

The historical development and basis of human factors guidelines for automated systems in aeronautical operations

In order to derive general design guidelines for automated systems a study was conducted on the utilization and acceptance of existing automated systems as currently employed in several commercial fields. Four principal study area were investigated by means of structured interviews, and in some cases questionnaires. The study areas were aviation, a both scheduled airline and general commercial aviation; process control and factory applications; office automation; and automation in the power industry. The results of over eighty structured interviews were analyzed and responses categoried as various human factors issues for use by both designers and users of automated equipment. These guidelines address such items as general physical features of automated equipment; personnel orientation, acceptance, and training; and both personnel and system reliability