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Abstract

This paper presents an example of a full Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) on a TRACON Air Traffic Control Microworld (TRACON, 1991). TRACON for Windows is a microworld simulation of an air traffic control environment. The TRACON domain consists of an airspace surrounding a major airport and its regional satellite airports. Our purpose in applying all five phases of CWA to a single system was pedagogical in nature. The authors came together as an analytical team within the context of a CWA graduate course. All five phases of analysis are outlined in this paper, although each analysis represents only a subset of a complete CWA undertaking. Despite the limited breadth, we were able to generate a substantial amount of data and increase our appreciation of the relationships between the domain knowledge elucidated through each phase. This example illustrates the potential design value of performing a CWA for real-world domains across all CWA phases.

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A Five-Phase CWA for Air Traffic Control: Example from a TRACON Microworld

Abstract

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