Touchscreen Use Among Geoscientists: Perceptions of Comfort, Task Productivity, and Task Satisfaction

Touchscreen use among geoscientists at larger oil and gas companies has been on the rise in the past several years. The investment in this technology is high and the benefits have yet to be confirmed. It is imperative to know whether geoscientists see a reduction in their ergonomic symptoms while experiencing an increase in task productivity and task satisfaction. A group of single touchscreen plus single non-touch display users were compared against a group of dual non-touch display users to see how they relate in all three areas: perceived discomfort, task productivity, and task satisfaction. In addition, the participant’s past ergonomic discomfort was taken into consideration to see if symptoms have improved, worsened, or were transferred to another body part. The aspects of their work that were evaluated and recorded including postures, equipment type, perceived task productivity levels, perceived task satisfaction, and current and previous discomfort levels. The finding supported productivity being positively affected by touchscreen use, while speed was supported at a lesser level. Discomfort was an issue due to poor historical data causing analysis issues and no real significance was found. Overall, doing research in an uncontrolled environment caused several more confounding variables than expected that impacted the veracity of this research. In conclusion, it was found that there were enough significant differences in perceived productivity between the groups to warrant further research in this area, but any future research needs to be conducted in a controlled environment.