Analyzing railroad dispatchers´ strategies: a cognitive task analysis of a distributed team planning task

Describes a preliminary cognitive task analysis (CTA) that is being conducted to examine how experienced train dispatchers manage and schedule trains. The CTA uses ethnographic field observations and structured interview techniques. The objective is to gain insight into the cognitive demands placed on train dispatchers and the strategies they have developed in response to those demands, as an input to guide development and design of digital communication systems and advanced information displays. The paper reports selected results of the CTA that reveal some of the complexities faced by train dispatchers and the cognitive and collaborative strategies they have developed in response to those demands. The results of the preliminary CTA reveal that dispatchers have developed a variety of strategies that smooth the way for trains to pass through territories safely and efficiently and satisfy the multiple demands placed on track use. In many cases these strategies depend on communication and coordination among individuals distributed across time and space. A core basis for coordination is the use of radio as a communication device that provides for a shared frame of reference. The ability to overhear communications directed at others that have a bearing on achievement of your own goals and to recognize when information in your possession is of relevance to others and broadcast it, are important contributors to efficient management of track use. Dispatchers´ planning and scheduling is proactive, anticipatory and opportunistic-taking advantage of windows of opportunities that arise to satisfy the multiple demands that are placed on track use. The results have implications for training and the application of advanced display and communication technologies to improve train routing safety and efficiency