UNDERSTANDING THE SEARCH FOR INFORMATION IN THE AEROSPACE DOMAIN
Francisco del-Rey-Chamorro, Ken Wallace · Cambridge University Engineering Department Publications Database · 2005
This research was triggered by a concern expressed by some experienced engineering designers about the usability of new electronic retrieval systems. These systems are substituting the traditional paper-based manuals, but there is no clear understanding about how these new systems alter the way designers search for information. In fact, there is little understanding of how designers search for information in company manuals. In total, twelve designers from five company sites of an aerospace company were observed undertaking the design case of a flying control surface, accessing information only from the company's manuals. Six of the designers were provided with paper copies of the manuals, whereas the other six were asked to access the standards and manuals through the electronic system. The results presented in this paper provide a model of how designers search for information in company manuals that may help computer scientists to create more aligned retrieval tools to designers.