SpringerLink
Log in

Job Crafting to Improve Low-Usability Automation: Sustainability Through Human Work Interaction Designs

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Design for Equality and Justice (INTERACT 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 14535))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 9 Accesses

Abstract

In industry 4.0 manufacturing, workers experience a variety of old and new automation and adopt and adapt to this automation to the best of their ability. This paper contributes a design case in which we aimed to support workers’ job crafting with a four-week, peer-tutoring training program to create sustainable human work interaction designs. The peer-tutoring program facilitated job crafting by training the workers in identifying problems in their work and proposing solutions to these problems. We find that the peer-tutoring program enabled conversations among the workers about recurrent work problems and their solutions. This finding was achieved despite the low experienced usability of the automation in the case company. In terms of job crafting, the workers focused on their enjoyable tasks and invested in their relationships with their favorite colleagues but did not put a lot of effort into seeing their tasks as important and meaningful. We also encountered a tension between job crafting and management’s view of the peer-tutoring program as a means of supporting standardization.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
EUR 29.95
Price includes VAT (Germany)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
EUR 56.49
Price includes VAT (Germany)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
EUR 70.61
Price includes VAT (Germany)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free ship** worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Kaasinen, E., et al.: Empowering and engaging industrial workers with operator 4.0 solutions. Comput. Ind. Eng. 139, 105678 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2019.01.052

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Giovannoni, E., Fabietti, G.: What is sustainability? A review of the concept and its applications. In: Busco, C., Frigo, M.L., Riccaboni, A., Quattrone, P. (eds.) Integrated Reporting, pp. 21–40. Springer, Cham (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02168-3_2

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  3. Mankoff, J.C., et al.: Environmental sustainability and interaction. In: Proceedings of the CHI2007 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 2121–2124. ACM (2007). https://doi.org/10.1145/1240866.1240963

  4. Zhan, X., Walker, S.: Craft as leverage for sustainable design transformation: a theoretical foundation. Des. J. 22, 483–503 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1080/14606925.2019.1613040

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Lichtenthaler, P.W., Fischbach, A.: A meta-analysis on promotion-and prevention-focused job crafting. Eur. J. Work Organ. Psy. 28, 30–50 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2018.1527767

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Roto, V., Clemmensen, T., Häätäjä, H., Law, E.L.-C.: Guest editors’ introduction: designing interactive systems for work engagement. Hum. Technol. 14, 135–139 (2018). https://doi.org/10.17011/ht/urn.201808103814

  7. Scoppetta, A., Davern, E., Geyer, L.: Job carving and job crafting - a review of practices (EU report). European Commission (2019). KE-01-19-557-EN-N

    Google Scholar 

  8. Niessen, C., Weseler, D., Kostova, P.: When and why do individuals craft their jobs? The role of individual motivation and work characteristics for job crafting. Hum. Relat. 69, 1287–1313 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726715610642

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Geldenhuys, M., Bakker, A.B., Demerouti, E.: How task, relational and cognitive crafting relate to job performance: a weekly diary study on the role of meaningfulness. Eur. J. Work Organ. Psy. 30, 83–94 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2020.1825378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Woods, D.D.: Commentary designs are hypotheses about how artifacts shape cognition and collaboration. Ergonomics 41, 168–173 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1080/001401398187215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Ludwig, T., Kotthaus, C., Stein, M., Pipek, V., Wulf, V.: Revive old discussions! socio-technical challenges for small and medium enterprises within industry 4.0. In: Proceedings of 16th European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (2018). https://doi.org/10.18420/ecscw2018_15

  12. Clemmensen, T., Nørbjerg, J.: Digital peer-tutoring: early results from a field evaluation of a UX at work learning format in SMEs. In: Abdelnour Nocera, J., et al. (eds.) INTERACT 2019. LNCS, vol. 11930, pp. 52–58. Springer, Cham (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46540-7_6

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  13. Buonocore, F., Agrifoglio, R., de Gennaro, D.: The role of digital competencies and creativity for job crafting in public administration. In: Metallo, C., Ferrara, M., Lazazzara, A., Za, S. (eds.) Digital Transformation and Human Behavior. LNISO, vol. 37, pp. 87–97. Springer, Cham (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47539-0_7

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  14. Demerouti, E.: Turn digitalization and automation to a job resource. Appl. Psychol. 71, 1205–1209 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Clemmensen, T., Hertzum, M., Abdelnour-Nocera, J.: Ordinary user experiences at work: a study of greenhouse growers. ACM Trans. Comput. Hum. Interact. 27, 1–31 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1145/3386089

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Meneweger, T., Wurhofer, D., Fuchsberger, V., Tscheligi, M.: Factory workers’ ordinary user experiences: an overlooked perspective. Hum. Technol. 14, 209–232 (2018). https://doi.org/10.17011/ht/urn.201808103817

  17. Wrzesniewski, A., Dutton, J.E.: Crafting a job: Revisioning employees as active crafters of their work. Acad. Manag. Rev. 26, 179–201 (2001). https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.2001.4378011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Wessels, C., Schippers, M.C., Stegmann, S., Bakker, A.B., van Baalen, P.J., Proper, K.I.: Fostering flexibility in the new world of work: a model of time-spatial job crafting. Front Psychol. 10, 505 (2019). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00505

  19. Frederick, D.E., VanderWeele, T.J.: Longitudinal meta-analysis of job crafting shows positive association with work engagement. In: Cogent Psychology. p. Article 1746733. Cogent OA (2020). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2020.1746733

  20. Rofcanin, Y., Bakker, A.B., Berber, A., Gölgeci, I., Las Heras, M.: Relational job crafting: exploring the role of employee motives with a weekly diary study. Hum. Relat. 72, 859–886 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726718779121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Oprea, B.T., Barzin, L., Vîrgă, D., Iliescu, D., Rusu, A.: Effectiveness of job crafting interventions: a meta-analysis and utility analysis. Eur. J. Work Organ. Psy. 28, 723–741 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2019.1646728

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Laenen, J.J.: Continuous and autonomous Job Crafting support in the home-work environment. Unpublished working paper (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Berg, J.M., Dutton, J.E., Wrzesniewski, A., Baker, W.E.: Job Crafting Exercise. University of Michigan (2013). https://positiveorgs.bus.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/Job-Crafting-Exercise-Teaching-Note-Aug-101.pdf

  24. Van den Heuvel, M., Demerouti, E., Peeters, M.C.W.: The job crafting intervention: effects on job resources, self-efficacy, and affective well-being. J. Occup. Organ. Psychol. 88, 511–532 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Bakker, A.B., Tims, M., Derks, D.: Proactive personality and job performance: the role of job crafting and work engagement. Hum. Relat. 65, 1359–1378 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726712453471

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Brooke, J.: SUS: A “quick and dirty” usability scale. In: Jordan, P.W., Thomas, B., Weerdmeester, B.A., and McClelland, A.L. (eds.) Usability Evaluation in Industry, pp. 189–194. Taylor & Francis (1996). https://doi.org/10.1201/9781498710411

  27. Bangor, A., Kortum, P.T., Miller, J.T.: An empirical evaluation of the system usability scale. Int. J. Hum. Comput. Interact. 24, 574–594 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1080/10447310802205776

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Lazauskaite-Zabielske, J., Ziedelis, A., Urbanaviciute, I.: Who benefits from time-spatial job crafting? The role of boundary characteristics in the relationship between time-spatial job crafting, engagement and performance. Balt. J. Manag. 16, 1–19 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1108/BJM-07-2020-0236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Sanders, E.B.-N., Stappers, P.J.: Co-creation and the new landscapes of design. CoDesign 4, 5–18 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1080/15710880701875068

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was conducted in the context of the regional development project KomDigital, which facilitated the contact to the case company. Special thanks are due to the management and employees of the case company. The four-week, peer-tutoring training program was run by project assistants Latife Jawhar and Magnus Stidsholt Buus.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, Denmark

    Torkil Clemmensen & Jacob Nørbjerg

  2. Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark

    Morten Hertzum

Authors
  1. Torkil Clemmensen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Morten Hertzum
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jacob Nørbjerg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Torkil Clemmensen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of York, York, UK

    Anna Bramwell-Dicks

  2. University of York, York, UK

    Abigail Evans

  3. Université Côte d‘Azur, Sophia Antipolis, France

    Marco Winckler

  4. University of York, York, UK

    Helen Petrie

  5. University of West London, London, UK

    José Abdelnour-Nocera

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2024 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Clemmensen, T., Hertzum, M., Nørbjerg, J. (2024). Job Crafting to Improve Low-Usability Automation: Sustainability Through Human Work Interaction Designs. In: Bramwell-Dicks, A., Evans, A., Winckler, M., Petrie, H., Abdelnour-Nocera, J. (eds) Design for Equality and Justice. INTERACT 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14535. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61688-4_37

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61688-4_37

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-61687-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-61688-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Societies and partnerships

Search

Navigation