Latest / Technology Now / How great design can alleviate workplace stress
Transcript
- Aubrey Lovell: Hello and welcome back to Technology Now, a weekly show from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, where we take what's happening in the world around us and explore how it's changing the way organizations are using technology. We're your host, Aubrey Lovell... Michael Bird: And Michael Bird. And in this episode, we are talking about helping people work under stress, and not just any stress. We'll be talking about nuclear safety and how workers in Ukraine are keeping power plants running under quite stressful situations like bombardment and occupation. We'll also be looking at human centered design and how complicated systems can be optimized to work for their human supervisors. We'll examine what organizations can learn from the Ukrainian example about optimizing humans and minimizing stress. And of course, we'll be looking at the books that are changing the way you, our audience, and some of our wonderful guests see the world. So, if you are the kind of person who needs to know why what's going on the world matters to your organization, then this podcast is for you. And if you're enjoying it, do make sure you subscribe on your podcast app of choice so don't miss out. Right, let's get on with the show. Aubrey Lovell: All right. So we'd like to think that nuclear power is pretty safe, right? And it is. Nuclear energy is 99.7% safer than coal, oil, or gas power in terms of the number of deaths caused. But, while that's partly down to nuclear plants generally being very well-designed and run, it's also down to a whole lot of human training, people who are trained to keep cool under pressure, no pun, and also know when things are going wrong and then know what to do about it. So I guess, Michael, this is the big question: what happens when all of that goes out of the window? What happens, for example, if you have a nuclear plant that finds itself in a war zone, under attack, or maybe in the path of extreme weather like tsunamis or tornadoes, how on earth do you deal with an environment where there are hundreds of stimulations, distractions, dangers? And if you look at the example, even this year, that's been the reality for workers at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear power plant in Ukraine. And since early March, 2022, the plant has been under heavy Russian occupation and it's been regularly shelled. Michael Bird: Firstly, love the pronunciation. Aubrey Lovell: Thank you. I worked really hard on that. Michael Bird: Sounded very, different part of the world. Anyway, sorry. Yeah, that does sound pretty stressful. So how on earth do you deal with an environment where there are hundreds of simulations, distractions and dangers, often many at the same time? Well, today we are joined by Claire Blackett, principal nuclear research scientist from the Institute for Energy Technologies and an expert in something called human-centered design. So Claire, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for joining us. Claire Blackett: Thank you very much. Michael Bird: Just very quickly, what is human-centered design and how does it help people work under pressure, for example, like the situation in Ukraine? Claire Blackett: So human-centered design, it's kind of what it says on the tin. We're putting humans at the center of the design process, and that means that we're thinking about how humans interact with and use the systems around them and how they're influenced by things like the technology, the organizational culture, and other things like that. So it's really putting the human at the center. We try to think about, what do humans need in order to be able to do the job that we're asking them to do? So when we're thinking about these really kind of high pressure situations like what's happening in the Ukraine, we also try to think about, so this is a system that's already up and running, we're not designing it, but thinking about how the humans might be feeling, how they might be doing, what kind of pressures might be on them. So thinking about things like stress, time pressure, uncertainty, especially uncertainty about what's going on outside of the plant, maybe what's happening with their families and so on, and fatigue is probably another big issue that they're tackling at the moment. And so we try to think about, how might that actually impact their performance? That if something did happen at the plant, we need to make sure that they're going to be able to deal with it and to be able to handle these kind of uncertain and maybe unplanned situations. Aubrey Lovell: Can you give us some specific examples of how that's used to help people in the nuclear industry identify and kind of, what you were just saying, react in those high stake situations? What's the formula there? Claire Blackett: So when we're talking about the design of nuclear power plants, of course, we are able to think about all of these things in advance. And we use, very heavily in the nuclear industry, we use past experience, not just the big events like Chernobyl or Fukushima, but also the smaller events that happen that are not serious, but still tell us a lot about how people work and how they interact with systems. So we use that to actually help improve our designs all the time. So it might be that we're improving the design of control room displays, for example, or improving how people use procedures, maybe improving training examples that they go through and so on. In the situation that's going on in Ukraine, we know that what's going to be difficult for folks over there is probably their ability to make decisions under pressure. And so what we can do then is actually give them a lot of support from outside. So I know, for example, that the International Atomic Energy Agency have been visiting the plant and visiting with operators, and I believe that they actually have some people on site around the clock now that are able to give that support. And of course, they're able to tap into resources that they have outside of the plant. So one of the key things would be helping people to understand what's going on outside and how that might actually impact their safety systems, and then just being able to think through decisions. So within the nuclear industry, we never make decisions very quickly. Nuclear power plants are always designed, actually, to give you some time to be able to make decisions. So if the reactors are up and running and they need to shut down quickly, in fact all the automated systems and so on will kick into place and allow the operators to be able to know that the plant is being shut down safely, and then they have time to think about what went wrong and what do we need to do about it. Now in Ukraine at the plant there, there's four reactors, but all of those have been shut down now for several months, but obviously, there's still workers at the plant trying to maintain safe systems and maintain cooling and things like that. So there's still some danger there, but because the reactors are shut down, it's not quite as dangerous as it could have been if this had happened sort of out of the blue. But the main thing for us then is just giving them that extra support from outside so that as and when things occur, they have the engineering people available to them to help them make the right decisions about what systems to shut down, for example, or how to deal with things. Michael Bird: Clearly, human-centered design is relevant to organizations outside of the nuclear industry. So are there any simple steps that other organizations can take to implement some basic human-centered design to improve efficiency and relieve stress, and I guess, make better decision making? Claire Blackett: Yeah, a really simple step is to actually involve users in the design process. So it seems like a very obvious thing, but a lot of people don't do it. But users really are your kind of experts when it comes to understanding, what are they going to need, what kind of problems might they encounter, and therefore what can we do to either try to remove the problems that they might encounter or maybe just lessen the consequences of that? So a really key part of user design is involving the users, as well as that we try to do things like use iterative design processes. So we'll make one version of a product or solution, involve users in testing, learn from that, and then make another version of it and do this kind of cyclical approach to make sure that we end up with something that's really both addressing the problems, but also making it an attractive thing for people to actually want to use. So that is a very simple thing that organizations can do. Aubrey Lovell: Claire, final question: why should organizations outside of the nuclear industry care about human-centered design? Claire Blackett: In your best case scenario, if you don't care about user-centered design or human-centered design, you can end up with a really unattractive product that just doesn't work the way that people want it to work. In the worst case situation is that you could actually end up with something that might cause people harm because you haven't thought about all of the ways that people might interact with or use this system. So we want to make sure that we're not only keeping people happy, but also that we're keeping people safe, and to make sure that whatever it is that you are working on is going to be used in the way that you would like it to be used so that you don't get any surprises. So I think there's very, very important reasons for involving humans, just on that scale. Aubrey Lovell: Absolutely. Thanks so much, Claire. That was really vital, and also critical, lifesaving insight. Ton of stuff that I don't think we've even ever thought of. So really great. Thank you. And we're going to actually come back to you in a moment, so don't go anywhere as we've got some questions sent in from the audience. And just a reminder for those who are wanting to dive even further into this topic, we'll drop some useful links in the show notes about everything we've talked about on today's show. All right. Next up, it's down to you, our audience. We open the floor for you to give your recommendations on books which have changed the way you look at the world, life, and business in the last 12 months. They could be technology based, have changed the way you work, or they could have just made you look at the world in a totally different way. Michael Bird: And if you want to share your recommendations, there is a link in the podcast description. Just record a voice note on your phone and send it over. Patricia Thornley: I'm Patricia Thornley. I'm Director of the Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute at Aston University. The book that changed my life this year and I have shared with several others since actually is the Midnight Library by Matt Haig. It's a fascinating book about what could have happened if, essentially, you have a character who gets to a point in their life where they're given the opportunity to go back and make different decisions and investigate what would've happened in their life if... and it made me really think very hard about what decisions I've made in my life to date and how those have channeled me perhaps in a particular direction. But it made me think about what the future can hold for our children as well, and how we sometimes shape other people's decisions and what the consequences of that can be for all of us in the future. It's a totally fascinating read, like nothing I'd ever read before. Highly recommended. Aubrey Lovell: All right. Claire, it is time for the questions from the audience. Are you ready? Claire Blackett: I am ready. Michael Bird: So we are delighted to have a question from Sam from Manchester who is actually our producer crashing in his script writing, sorry, cashing in I should say, his script writing privilege, and crashing in. And he wants to know if domestic tech laptops, phones, and the software they use could benefit from a more human-centered design approach and what that might look like. Claire Blackett: Definitely. I think it's, again, because with human-centered design we're not just trying to come up with new ways to do things, but we're also trying to address problems that people experience. So one example that I can think of is that we start to see a better need for integration between different devices, between, for example, mobile phones and laptops. And we're also seeing that, especially I think since Covid-19, that people are working more mobile now and more, not just remotely, but actually kind of working on the go as well. I know that one thing that I experience is that, I often don't get sort of very good integration between apps on my phone and programs on my laptop, especially when it comes to work-related things. So that's an area that could probably benefit from user-centered design. So we're actually examining, how do people work now? We've had this massive event that has happened globally that has changed how people work and it has changed how people communicate. We don't sit at offices in front of computers anymore, at least a lot of us don't do that anymore. So that is one area where you could actually apply the user-centered design principles to see, laptops and mobile phones and things like that have already had a lot of user-centered design put into them, but as a result of this massive change, maybe we can rethink again how they could be used and how they can be improved. And as I said, there is still problems that we do experience a lot with kind of integration across different platforms that definitely needs some work. So I would say there's room for improvement there. Yes. Aubrey Lovell: Okay, so we have another one coming from Miguel in New York. He would like to know whether better design could be used to help traffic and transit flow. Claire Blackett: This is a really good one, and it's a very hot topic at the moment and has been for a number of years now. With this shift towards green energy and zero emission transport and so on, there's a lot of impetus, especially within urban areas, to try to get more and more people using public transport instead of using cars, for example. But I've seen, over the years, that there's a lot of effort being put into, how can we either force people to use public transport by bringing in kind of more punitive measures, or we try to use the carrot approach where we say, "Well, we're going to design this very nice app that's going to make it seamless for you to be able to work across all different kind of modes of transport." So you can basically use one app to get your ticket for the train and the bus and whatever it else you need. But there's a fundamental, basic issue that's not being tackled, which is that, in many urban areas we see that actually the transport is just not regular enough or it's not cheap enough for people to use, it's not reliable enough. And so even with the best app in the world, it's like, well, if I have to wait an hour to get a bus, then I'm probably not going to wait. I'll probably just take my car and I will pay the congestion charge. So again, taking the kind of user-centered design, it's about really trying to understand, what are the problems or what are the barriers that prevent people from engaging in the behavior that we would like to engage them in? And bombarding them with fancy apps or things like that, yes, that's one way to motivate people, but if you're not addressing the underlying fundamental issues that are really preventing them from doing this, then you're not going to have the success that you think. So this is where, again, involving the users can actually be really useful because listen to the users and let them tell you, why don't I do this thing already? And then you can actually start from that place as addressing the fundamental problems they see. And based on that, we can then start to think about, how do we make it a more seamless and fun environment? So that's a really good example of where this could be done. Michael Bird: Awesome. I think that's the end of our questions. So thank you Claire. And again, we'll drop a couple of links in the podcast description for more on these topics. Aubrey Lovell: Okay, we're towards the end of our show, which means it's time for, this week in history, a look at monumental events in the world of business and technology which has changed our lives. And Michael, I think we need to copyright that, for sure. Michael Bird: I think we probably did trademark. Yeah. Our record contract is coming in the post. Last week the clue was, it's no longer eerie in Indiana. Know what we're on about? Of course you do. It's the introduction of the first city powered entirely by electric light in Wabash, Indiana, which was on March the 31st, 1880. I mean, it was a city in the loosest sense. The place had a population of 3,800 at the time, and it was illuminated in the, also looser sense of the word, the town hung four 3000 lumen light bulbs from the courthouse powered by a steam engine in the basement. Now for reference, that's about the same as 1275 watt incandescent bulbs. However, because the town didn't have any other gas street lamps, it can legitimately lay claim to being the first fully electrically lit city in the world. Now, next week we're heading to 1964 and one machine to do it all. So if you think you know what it is, well then you are a very clever sausage, whatever that means. So come back next week to find out if you are right. Okay, that brings us to the end of Technology Now for this week. Next week, we have got a guest so exciting, I get a little flutter just saying his name, because it is Oracle Red Bull Racing team principal and CEO Christian Horner. So if you're an F1 fan or even passingly interested in cutting edge tech and motorsport, stay tuned. Are you excited Aubs? Aubrey Lovell: I'm excited. I know you must be fangirling hard, Michael. Michael Bird: Very much so. Very much so. Aubrey Lovell: But for now, thank you to our guest, Claire Blackett, principal nuclear research scientists from the Institute for Energy Technologies. And to our listeners, thank you all so much for joining us. Technology Now is hosted by myself and Michael Bird, and this episode was produced by Sam Dada Pollen and Zoe Anderson, with production support from Harry Morton, Alicia Kempson, Allison Paisley, Alex Podmore, and Ed Everston. Technology now is a lower street production for Hewlett Packard Enterprise. We'll see you next week. Michael Bird: Cheers.