Abstract
COOPERATION WITH USERS TO DEVELOP TECHNOLOGY
TO SUPPORT LEARNING AT WORK
Case: Statoil Detaljhandel
I was given the opportunity to join in on a project called LAP: Learning and building knowledge at work. In LAP the focus is on increasing skills on the workplace as well as supporting knowledge sharing in the organization.
I joined the project as an observer, and was given the opportunity to follow different activities and happenings. As a start, we made observations at two different gas stations. To follow up, it was arranged three different focus groups where the workers got their opportunity to share their thoughts on how the future gas station should look. They were encouraged to think about technical solutions that should support learning in the everyday work. As a further step, some of the participants from the focus groups and some new participants joined a design workshop, where they were to realise the ideas from the focus groups and eventual new ideas into cardboard computers and likes.
The goal of the project was to design a system to support learning at work. The participants came up with the idea of a database that should contain information on all the products that the gas stations hold, as well as descriptions on how to manage different tasks, such as changing a light bulb on a car.
In my essay I have added some theory about learning, which was crucial for this project. I have also written about participatory design. The theory was used in the analysis to describe phenomena that was recognised in the actions performed.
The analysis is grounded in the focus group and the design workshop, which is both described in detail. The thesis is written in Norwegian and has the title: “Samarbeid med brukere for å utvikle teknologi som skal støtte læring på arbeidsplassen. Case: Statoil Detaljhandel”.