Design and Appropriation of Computer-supported Self-scheduling Practices in Healthcare Shift Work

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Shift scheduling strongly impacts the job satisfaction and well-being of healthcare workers, because it heavily influences social life and recreational activities. Due to its complexity and time-consuming nature, shift scheduling becomes increasingly automated. However, existing systems are mostly directed at improving efficiency. The workers' needs and their participation in negotiating shifts do not play a pronounced role. In contrast, we present a nine month case study of an interactive, worker-centered self-scheduling system which allows healthcare workers to participate in shift planning and to negotiate scheduling conflicts autonomously. Our results show that cautiousness about social standing and differences in personal lifestyle inhibited system usage for some workers. Moreover, the workers engaged in several pro-social conflict prevention strategies instead of competitive decision-making. We conclude the paper with detailed design guidelines for computer-supported self-scheduling.