User-centred analysis to inform the development of ice navigation decision support technologies

A growing interest in northern shipping routes and the transition to autonomous shipping has created an influx of decision support systems and low-level automation technologies for navigation crews in sea ice. While these technologies are intended to support decisionmaking, they often cause frustration for crews. Researchers theorize that using a user-centred design approach will lead to technologies that are more effective in supporting crew decisionmaking. This research aims to provide user-centred insights to inform the development of future ice navigation decision support technologies. The study reports a thematic analysis of unstructured interviews conducted with crew onboard a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker. The interviews focused on the question: How do navigators decide on route planning and navigation in sea ice? The thematic analysis codes are used to create a Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) that models the process of route planning and ice navigation onboard this vessel. The HTA is used to identify potential issues and areas where technology can better support ice navigation decision-making.