Visual information and knowledge representation in organisations

The construction industry’s environment is continually changing. Employees are now more geographically widespread and diverse, both culturally and educationally, than ever before. A great deal of research has been carried out on knowledge acquisition and storage, but there is still a distinct lack of research into knowledge presentation and communication. Information and knowledge presentation play a significant role in daily decision-making processes when inappropriate decisions may result from inaccurate or poorly communicated information. The simplified, filtered coherent presentation of explicit knowledge can be instrumental to a successful, profitable and safety conscious business. Wates Construction is a major construction company and employs around 1300 people directly, as well as various subcontractors on different projects. Their current turnover is around £1billion, they are based in the UK and have branches in Ireland and Abu Dhabi. Wates realised their existing information system was inefficiently conveying information to its employees and the need to provide a simplified system, to assist staff decision-making processes. Earlier IT professionals' attempts to make the system more usable had made no significant difference to its performance. The aim of this research is to develop a framework that facilitates presentation and re-use of organisational and personal knowledge within and between people and businesses run by the sponsoring company, with a view to reduce information redundancy and encourage information uptake. The objectives are to evaluate existing problems and current practices in information and knowledge presentation and communication and provide the means for the user to access vital information and knowledge with less effort. This includes communicating safety information on construction sites to employees who may be disadvantaged by language or cultural barriers. Recognising the diversity of the targeted people, after initial observations two distinct groups were identified, representing the majority of the employees. In each group, user needs were systematically identified by conducting workshops, one-to-one interviews, questionnaires and observations. The findings enabled the researcher to methodically develop two tools, which were positively verified by the users, one for each group. The first tool, designed for staff in management roles, comprises software which uses graphical imagery and outstanding words and phrases, using of series of hyperlinks leading the user to the required information. The second tool, catering for site-based employees, also uses visual images and graphical effects to present and aid the transfer of essential safety information for their day-to day needs. It also gathers information about the users which can be used and analysed by the company to facilitate better and safer design of the future projects, safeguarding users' anonymity. Both tools were subjected to pilot studies and results were encouraging. The uptake of the first tool, directed at management roles, although slow in the beginning seem to improve exponentially. The second tool directed at the site based manual workers had an immediate effect and although time will tell if it had a significant effect on reduction in accidents, the initial surveys proved that the targeted people were a lot more informed. The tools are going through the process of being incorporated into the sponsoring company’s network. Feedback so far has been positive and favourable. There is a need for future research to focus on analysis of the activities of those using the new system. This would enable better understanding of how, why, when and where employees obtain information. This in turn will allow the company to ensure that the information their employees seek on the system are easily accessible and laid out to their needs. Further analysis of the data gathered from the activity on the system could also provide an insight into employees' ability to resolve issues.