Rethinking Human-Centered Computing: Finding the Customer and Negotiated Interactions at the Airport

During the late 1990s and into 2001, tightly coordinated airline schedules unraveled due to massive delays that were the result of inclement weather, over booked flights and airline operational difficulties. As schedules slipped, the delayed departures and late arrivals resulted in system breakdowns, customers who missed their connections, and airline work activities that fell further out of synch. Air travel became overwhelmingly complex, problematic and fatiguing for customers while providing new operational challenges for airlines. In 2001, the tragedies of 911 1 and the resulting, new airport security procedures added other difficulties to air travel.