As work becomes increasingly automated, algorithmically managed, and technologically complex, the design choices that most profoundly shape whether work is healthy, productive, and inclusive — including how tasks are allocated between humans and machines, where decision authority sits, and how work is distributed across people, roles, and shifts — are being made without IO psychology at the table. Work design evidence is clear: autonomy, meaningful task variety, manageable demands, and skill development opportunities predict wellbeing, safety, and performance (Parker & Grote, 2022). Yet in technology-enabled transformations, these qualities are typically determined by how technical systems are designed and procured, long before job descriptions are written.
This presentation draws on four applied studies conducted in complex, technology-intensive operational environments to demonstrate three methodological approaches through which IO psychology can contribute upstream to system design, acquisition, and workforce transition planning.
The first approach is scenario-based sociotechnical work analysis. Across studies involving a complex maritime platform and autonomous systems, structured operational scenarios were used to examine how work would be designed across people, technologies, roles, and time. These studies assessed whether proposed staffing and shift structures could support manageable workloads, meaningful roles, and crew sustainability before systems were operational, identifying where work design risks were likely to emerge (Boeing et al., 2020; Hosszu et al., 2024).
The second approach is structured human performance evaluation. Drawing on a socio-technical systems evaluation methodology, this work translated work design principles into a systematic tool that enabled designers and acquisition stakeholders to assess the likely human consequences of design choices by focusing on whether those choices were likely to support or undermine performance, coordination, and sustainable work over time (Cham et al., 2025).
The third approach is organisation-level workforce transition assessment. Organisation-wide work design assessment was used to examine how technology introduction was likely to reshape job demands, skill requirements, and role-level exposure to transition risk, identifying where redesign or targeted support would be most needed before workforce impacts became embedded (Jorritsma et al., 2022).
Across these studies, the common contribution is the use of IO psychology not only to evaluate the effects of existing work systems, but to analyse prospective system configurations before key design and procurement decisions are finalised. The choices made during design and acquisition powerfully constrain what good work is possible. If we remain downstream, we describe what systems do to people. If we move upstream, we help shape what those systems become.