Assisting maintainers in the semiconductor factory: iterative co-design of a mobile interface and a situated display

Maintaining machines in semiconductor factories is a challenging task that, so far, is not sufficiently supported by mobile interactive technology. This paper describes the early development of a maintainer support system. Our goal was to develop a user-experience prototype, which consists of a mobile and a situated interface, to support maintenance activities and the coordination between maintainers and shift-leads. The interfaces are meant to reduce the amount of information and to improve awareness for defective equipment. Efforts described in this paper include the development of a conceptual user experience prototype, following an iterative user-centered design approach. Based on the requirements analysis, an initial mock-up of both interfaces was developed and later on discussed with maintainers in a workshop. With an interactive Wizard of Oz (WOz) prototype we examined the cooperative aspect as well as user experience factors (e.g., distraction, trust, usability) in a simulated factory environment.