Presentation
Bridging User-Technology Fit in Employment Decision Support Tools from Two Approaches: Occupational Assessment and Human Factors Context-of-Use Analysis
DescriptionIndividuals with episodic disabilities experience fluctuations in functional capacity over time. They may encounter challenges meeting the physical, cognitive, and sensory demands of their professional roles. These fluctuations can affect self-awareness, self-efficacy, and self-advocacy during complex employment decisions, including workplace accommodation requests and disability disclosure. Decision support tools (DSTs) may structure these decisions from a systems perspective; however, DST outputs may implicitly assume relatively stable functional capacity.
We conducted a systematic qualitative synthesis examining accommodation-seeking experiences among adults with episodic disabilities. Findings indicate that fluctuating symptoms and variable functional performance influence engagement in employment decision-making and may expose assumptions about stability embedded in DST design. When tools presume sustained attention, consistent symptoms, or uninterrupted task engagement, mismatches may arise between system outputs and dynamic work capacity.
Drawing on principles of occupational assessment informed by occupational therapists (OTs), we propose integrating structured occupational assessment with DST use as a complementary methodological extension. This integration facilitates the identification of design assumptions, potential break points, and evolving mismatches in user-technology fit as functional capacity changes over time. For HFE researchers and practitioners, these findings underscore the importance of examining temporal variability in user capacity when evaluating employment-related decision support systems.
We conducted a systematic qualitative synthesis examining accommodation-seeking experiences among adults with episodic disabilities. Findings indicate that fluctuating symptoms and variable functional performance influence engagement in employment decision-making and may expose assumptions about stability embedded in DST design. When tools presume sustained attention, consistent symptoms, or uninterrupted task engagement, mismatches may arise between system outputs and dynamic work capacity.
Drawing on principles of occupational assessment informed by occupational therapists (OTs), we propose integrating structured occupational assessment with DST use as a complementary methodological extension. This integration facilitates the identification of design assumptions, potential break points, and evolving mismatches in user-technology fit as functional capacity changes over time. For HFE researchers and practitioners, these findings underscore the importance of examining temporal variability in user capacity when evaluating employment-related decision support systems.
Event Type
Lecture
TimeTuesday, October 20th3:40pm - 4pm PDT
Location
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