Michael E. Stiso, Aslak Wegner Eide, Ragnhild Halvorsrud, Erik G. Nilsson, & Jan Håvard Skjetne. (2013). Building a flexible common operational picture to support situation awareness in crisis management. In J. Geldermann and T. Müller S. Fortier F. F. T. Comes (Ed.), ISCRAM 2013 Conference Proceedings – 10th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 220–229). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: Decision support systems for emergency management tend to focus on making a lot of data meaningful to particular users via a common operational picture (COP). This paper describes one such system, but one that goes further by making the COP flexible enough to support multiple users. Large crises involve frequent role switching between different actors in a response. Hence, predicting the support needs of a given user of a COP is difficult at best, complicating the design process. The solution described here is to use interactive information overlays to enable different users to fit the COP to their particular SA needs. The design was evaluated in two user workshops and a demonstration. In general, it was well-received, but domain experts cautioned that the tool must be usable not only in large crises but in everyday operations, or else it will not be used.
|
|
Yikun Liu, Sung Pil Moon, Mark Pfaff, Jill L. Drury, & Gary L. Klein. (2011). Collaborative option awareness for emergency response decision making. In E. Portela L. S. M.A. Santos (Ed.), 8th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management: From Early-Warning Systems to Preparedness and Training, ISCRAM 2011. Lisbon: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: We have been using exploratory modeling to forecast multiple plausible outcomes for a set of decision options situated in the emergency response domain. Results were displayed as a set of box-plots illustrating outcome frequencies distributed across an evaluative dimension (e.g., cost, score, or utility). Our previous research showed that such displays provide what we termed “option awareness” – an ability to determine robust options that will have good outcomes across the broadest number of plausible futures. This paper describes an investigation into extending this approach to collaborative decision making by providing a visualization of both collaborative and individual decision spaces. We believe that providing such visualizations will be particularly important when each individuals decision space does not account for the synergy that may emerge from collaboration. We describe how providing collaborative decision spaces improves the robustness of joint decisions and engenders high confidence in these decisions.
|
|
Jill L. Drury, Gary L. Klein, Jennifer Mathieu, Yikun Liu, & Mark Pfaff. (2013). Sympathetic decisions: Incorporating impacts on others into emergency response decision spaces. In J. Geldermann and T. Müller S. Fortier F. F. T. Comes (Ed.), ISCRAM 2013 Conference Proceedings – 10th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 199–209). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: We designed two decision support tools and employed them during a one-week, simulation-driven experiment that included emergency responders acting in their real-life roles. Each tool visualized a “decision space”: A diagrammatic depiction of the relative desirability of one option versus another, including the inherent uncertainty in the potential outcomes. One requirement was to develop a tool accounting for the impacts of decisions on others, so that emergency responders can make “sympathetic decisions.” For example, one decision space enabled responders to request resources from surrounding jurisdictions while also considering the potential negative effects on the lending organizations. Another decision space enabled responders to engage in a strategic dialogue with the public: “listening” to the public's greatest concerns by mining social media to measure emotion, and thereby suggesting strategic communications addressing those concerns. We report how we designed the decision spaces and the qualitative results of using these spaces during the experiment.
|
|
Guido Te Brake, Rick Van Der Kleij, & Miranda Cornelissen. (2008). Distributed mobile teams: Effects of connectivity and map orientation on teamwork. In B. V. de W. F. Fiedrich (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2008 – 5th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 642–650). Washington, DC: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: Fielded first responders are currently being equipped with support tools to improve their performance and safety. Novel information technology provides opportunities for improvement of task efficiency and situation awareness, but people can get in trouble when data networks fail. In this paper, we examine the effect of glitches in the data network on team performance and look into the strategies people use to cope with these disruptions. Teams of three responders collaborated in a search and rescue task, supported by a map showing their positions and the locations of victims. Data communication required for this support was interrupted, verbal communication remained possible. Two variants were used for the map: a north-up version and a heading-up version that was aligned with the orientation of the responder. Negative effects and changing strategies were found for the condition with interruptions, no differences were found for the two map variants.
|
|
Jan Maarten Schraagen, Aletta Eikelboom, Kees Van Dongen, & Guido Te Brake. (2005). Experimental evaluation of a critical thinking tool to support decision making in crisis situations. In B. C. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2005 – 2nd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 181–189). Brussels: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Building up proper situation awareness is one of the most difficult tasks in the beginning stages of large-scale accidents. As ambiguous information about the events becomes available, decision makers are often tempted to quickly choose a particular story to explain the events. Subsequent information that contradicts the initial story may easily be discarded and cognitive tunnel vision takes over. Our approach, as part of the COMBINED Systems project, is to prevent tunnel vision by providing critical thinking support. In a laboratory experiment with 60 participants, we tested this hypothesis by comparing the Critical Thinking tool with a 'no support' control condition and a 'minimal support' condition. Participants acted as crisis managers determining the likely cause of an accident based on different pieces of information. The results show a positive impact of the tool on both the decision making process and decision making effectiveness.
|
|