Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Analysis <strong>of</strong> Knowledge Work Execution at Computer
Workplaces
Benedikt Schmidt 1 , Todor Stoitsev 1 and Max Mühlhäuser 2
1
SAP Research, Darmstadt Germany
2
TU Darmstadt, Telecooperation Group, Darmstadt, Germany
benedikt.schmidt@sap.com
todor.stoitsev@sap.com
max@tk.informatik.tu-darmstadt.de
Abstract: Work execution at computer workplaces is an important facet <strong>of</strong> knowledge work. For <strong>the</strong> knowledge
worker, <strong>the</strong> interaction with <strong>the</strong> computer is seen in terms <strong>of</strong> goals and subgoals with accompanying tasks ra<strong>the</strong>r
than system commands. Consequently, knowledge workers apply tacit knowledge to pursue goals by a weakly
structured process involving s<strong>of</strong>tware tools to consume, modify or create information. Interruptions, appointments
and deadlines result in goal realization in parallel or in rapid succession. To extract tacit knowledge solid
knowledge about work is essential. The paper analyzes knowledge work execution at computer workplaces. Two
user studies to analyze work processes based on interaction histories have been conducted. The first study
focused on task execution processes. Differences and regularities <strong>of</strong> tasks executed by different people were
examined. The main outcome <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> first study is <strong>the</strong> description <strong>of</strong> core task execution processes that are
mixtures <strong>of</strong> work techniques. The second study focused on text visible at <strong>the</strong> user screen during task execution.
Topics are extracted from <strong>the</strong> logged screen content and textual similarities are measured. The main outcome <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong> second study is <strong>the</strong> identification <strong>of</strong> text similarities for tasks executed by different persons and <strong>the</strong> existence
<strong>of</strong> topics that identify tasks.
Keywords: knowledge work, experience management, interaction histories
1. Introduction
Many knowledge work processes at computer workplaces present <strong>the</strong>mselves as application <strong>of</strong> tacit
knowledge, as <strong>the</strong>y are not driven by defined procedures but by expected results. Tacit knowledge is
a veiled asset, as it only manifests in <strong>the</strong> fleetingness <strong>of</strong> work processes it produces (Walsham,
2005). Consequently, harvesting tacit knowledge from work processes is a complex challenge
(Stenmark, 2001) that requires reasoning about <strong>the</strong> meaning <strong>of</strong> work process fragments. To enable
such reasoning a solid knowledge base about work processes is essential. Research on work
processes in computer workspaces reveals <strong>the</strong>se processes as organized by tasks with goals ra<strong>the</strong>r
than by system commands (Bannon, Cypher, Greenspan, & Monty, 1983). Thereby multiple, <strong>of</strong>ten
interleaving tasks are common for knowledge work (Czerwinski et al. 2004), (Mark, Gonzalez, &
Harris, 2005). The goals are solved by using recurring solution techniques, as (Hädrich, 2008) points
out.
The intention <strong>of</strong> this paper is to evaluate and analyze <strong>the</strong> execution <strong>of</strong> knowledge intensive tasks. The
research is intended to improve <strong>the</strong> understanding <strong>of</strong> knowledge work execution. Based on an
improved understanding models for knowledge work execution can be created that facilitate <strong>the</strong>
design <strong>of</strong> support systems and <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> task detection methods. Understanding knowledge
work is complicated due to <strong>the</strong> contingence <strong>of</strong> knowledge work processes. Two people working on <strong>the</strong>
same task will not solve it completely similar, due to situational constraints and <strong>the</strong> relevance <strong>of</strong>
personal experience and preferences for knowledge work execution. The scientific issue tackled in
this paper is <strong>the</strong> identification <strong>of</strong> knowledge work execution characteristics that exist independent from
situational constraints and individual preferences.
The paper focuses two aspects: (a) execution processes as combination <strong>of</strong> s<strong>of</strong>tware applications and
(b) information access as text <strong>the</strong> user interacts with. Two laboratory studies on task execution
processes are presented. Both studies followed a similar process: predefined tasks were given to
users and <strong>the</strong> task execution was documented through video recordings and survey sheets.
Additionally, interaction histories were captured. These are temporally ordered lists <strong>of</strong> classified
events that stand for user-system interactions, and comprise complex mixtures <strong>of</strong> information about
resources a user operated on, using different applications. To capture interaction histories, an
extension <strong>of</strong> a monitoring application described in (Lokaiczyk, Faatz, Beckhaus, & Goertz, 2007) has
been used.
This paper is structured as follows. A study on task execution as sequence <strong>of</strong> application usage is
presented and analyzed in section 2, identifying core task execution processes. Section 3 analyzes
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