Skip to main content
Back to King's College London homepage

The Work, Interaction and Technology (WIT) is an interdisciplinary research group at King’s College London. It is based in King’s Business School's Department of Public Services Management and Organisation.

Members of the group specialise in video-based field studies of social interaction and have a particular interest in how tools and technologies feature in interaction, work practice, and collaboration. These studies often concern complex organisational environments, such as operating theatres, control rooms, health care consultations, and auction houses, as well as more informal, public settings such as museums, science centres, and cafés. Alongside their contribution to contemporary research and debates in the social sciences, computer sciences, and organisation studies, many of these studies are also used to inform the design of advanced technologies.

Members of the group published the first book on using video to analyse work and social interaction (Heath, Luff & Hindmarsh, Sage), as well as editing and authoring both on ethnomethodological contributions to organisation studies (Hindmarsh, Cambridge University Press), communication in healthcare (Hindmarsh, Blackwell), the analysis of auctions and markets (Heath, Cambridge University Press), and People, Technology and Social Organization (vom Lehn, Gibson and Ruiz-Junco, Routledge).

Approach and methods

WIT research is primarily naturalistic, informed by ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, and concerned with the social and interactional organisation of work and everyday activities. It involves fine-grained, video-based studies of social interaction and work practices. It encompasses studies of talk and bodily conduct and the ways in which objects and artefacts, and other aspects of the material environment, feature in conduct and collaboration. Members of the group are at the forefront of developing video-based field methods for the analysis of situated activity and social interaction.

Contributions

These projects contribute to empirical research, theory, and method in a range of disciplines in the social and computer sciences including sociology, communications, organisational studies, CSCW, HCI, and museum studies. They also contribute to the design and development of advanced technologies as well as skills training within organisations. For example, in recent years we have been involved in the development of simulation tools for training in healthcare, image recognition systems for command and control, and video-mediated technologies. Other projects have generated findings that have informed the development of professional training programmes for optometrists.

Activities

Members of the group organise conferences and colloquia, provide research training, and offer specialised short courses. They also help to shape the contemporary research agenda. They are regularly on programme and conference committees for international conferences such as ECSCW, EGOS, the ACM conferences of CSCW, CHI, the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction (SSSI), and the American Sociological Association (ASA). Members of the group serve on a range of editorial boards and edit special issues concerning aspects of work, interaction, and technology. They serve on various ESRC (including Information and Communications, Heath) and EPSRC committees and act as scientific consultants to private and public sector organisations in the UK and abroad. Furthermore, the group participates in funded networks in the UK and abroad each of which has a remit to develop research agendas in their different fields.

People

Katie Best

Visiting Senior Research Fellow in Public Services Management & Organisation

Holly Dobrzycki

PhD Student in Public Services Management and Organisation

Christian Heath

Emeritus Professor of Work and Organisation

Jon  Hindmarsh

Professor of Work and Interaction

Paul  Luff

Professor in Organisations and Technology

Lucy Meechan

PhD Student in Public Services Management and Organisation

Projects

Image missing an alt value
A video ethnography of training for rope access work

Using of video and traditional methods, this project investigates how novices acquire the competence that is needed to work at extreme height.

Image missing an alt value
Auction sales of fine art and antiques: traditional forms and hybrid developments

This project studies the interactional organisation of competition in auction sales, comparing the conventional and more recent formats.

Image missing an alt value
Conduct and interaction in museums

We are undertaking studies of how people experience exhibits in interaction with others and of how they embed information in their interaction at the exhibit.

Image missing an alt value
Handling tools and implements: teamwork & collaboration during surgical operations

Surgical procedures rely upon an array of tools and implements. Even brief delays can threaten the performance and lead to tensions within a surgical team.

Image missing an alt value
Human Robot Interaction and Artificial Intelligence

Recently there has been a great interest in developing robots and artificially intelligent systems that interact with humans in more natural ways.

Image missing an alt value
Media Space and Video-mediated Interaction

These projects draw on workplace studies to suggest enhancements to innovative systems to support collaborative work.

Image missing an alt value
Robot-assisted surgery

This project builds on research on collaboration in the operating theatre to investigate how the use of surgical robots reshapes the distribution of work.

Image missing an alt value
Social interaction in interactive museum programmes: On-site guided tours and online collaborative programmes

This research explores social interaction during interactive museum programmes, including both on-site guided tours and online collaborative art programmes.

Image missing an alt value
Surveillance

We have witnessed the wide-spread deployment of surveillance technologies and the development of operation centres to oversee and manage incidents and events.

Image missing an alt value
Transport control rooms

These projects study collaboration and co-ordination in transport control rooms which include centres for managing road and rail traffic.

Image missing an alt value
Working in kitchens: The interactional foundations of collaboration

This project examines professional kitchens as a site for the study of collaboration and coordination.

Activities

bush-house-image-credit-nick-wood-780x440_sga
WIT Advanced Summer Institute 2025

Designed for advanced doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career faculty conducting video-based qualitative research on interactions and practices in workplaces and other settings.

Events

12Jun

WIT Advanced Summer Institute 2025

The WIT Advanced Summer Institute 2025 is designed for advanced doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career faculty conducting video-based...

Affiliated PhD Students, Alumni, and Visiting Researchers

PhD Students

  • Holly Dobrzycki
  • Lucy Meechan
  • Soumitra Thorat

Alumni

  • Jessica La (2024) – Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care, King’s College London
  • Linh Dan Nguyen (2023) – School of Management, University of Bath
  • Andrew LaBonte (2023) – Global Wind Organisation, Denmark
  • Francesca Salvadori (2016) – IBM Consulting, London
  • Zain Nizameddin (2016)
  • Lewis Hyland (2014) – Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford
  • Menisha Patel (2013) – Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford
  • Katie Best (2009) – KatieBest Associates, London
  • Marcus Svensson (2005) – Qlik, Lund (Sweden)
  • David Lin (2000) – Whitesun Equity Partners, Taiwan

Visiting Researchers

  • Katie Best
  • David Lin
  • Francesca Salvadori
  • Erik Vinkhuyzen
  • Natalia Ruiz-Junco

People

Katie Best

Visiting Senior Research Fellow in Public Services Management & Organisation

Holly Dobrzycki

PhD Student in Public Services Management and Organisation

Christian Heath

Emeritus Professor of Work and Organisation

Jon  Hindmarsh

Professor of Work and Interaction

Paul  Luff

Professor in Organisations and Technology

Lucy Meechan

PhD Student in Public Services Management and Organisation

Projects

Image missing an alt value
A video ethnography of training for rope access work

Using of video and traditional methods, this project investigates how novices acquire the competence that is needed to work at extreme height.

Image missing an alt value
Auction sales of fine art and antiques: traditional forms and hybrid developments

This project studies the interactional organisation of competition in auction sales, comparing the conventional and more recent formats.

Image missing an alt value
Conduct and interaction in museums

We are undertaking studies of how people experience exhibits in interaction with others and of how they embed information in their interaction at the exhibit.

Image missing an alt value
Handling tools and implements: teamwork & collaboration during surgical operations

Surgical procedures rely upon an array of tools and implements. Even brief delays can threaten the performance and lead to tensions within a surgical team.

Image missing an alt value
Human Robot Interaction and Artificial Intelligence

Recently there has been a great interest in developing robots and artificially intelligent systems that interact with humans in more natural ways.

Image missing an alt value
Media Space and Video-mediated Interaction

These projects draw on workplace studies to suggest enhancements to innovative systems to support collaborative work.

Image missing an alt value
Robot-assisted surgery

This project builds on research on collaboration in the operating theatre to investigate how the use of surgical robots reshapes the distribution of work.

Image missing an alt value
Social interaction in interactive museum programmes: On-site guided tours and online collaborative programmes

This research explores social interaction during interactive museum programmes, including both on-site guided tours and online collaborative art programmes.

Image missing an alt value
Surveillance

We have witnessed the wide-spread deployment of surveillance technologies and the development of operation centres to oversee and manage incidents and events.

Image missing an alt value
Transport control rooms

These projects study collaboration and co-ordination in transport control rooms which include centres for managing road and rail traffic.

Image missing an alt value
Working in kitchens: The interactional foundations of collaboration

This project examines professional kitchens as a site for the study of collaboration and coordination.

Activities

bush-house-image-credit-nick-wood-780x440_sga
WIT Advanced Summer Institute 2025

Designed for advanced doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career faculty conducting video-based qualitative research on interactions and practices in workplaces and other settings.

Events

12Jun

WIT Advanced Summer Institute 2025

The WIT Advanced Summer Institute 2025 is designed for advanced doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career faculty conducting video-based...

Affiliated PhD Students, Alumni, and Visiting Researchers

PhD Students

  • Holly Dobrzycki
  • Lucy Meechan
  • Soumitra Thorat

Alumni

  • Jessica La (2024) – Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care, King’s College London
  • Linh Dan Nguyen (2023) – School of Management, University of Bath
  • Andrew LaBonte (2023) – Global Wind Organisation, Denmark
  • Francesca Salvadori (2016) – IBM Consulting, London
  • Zain Nizameddin (2016)
  • Lewis Hyland (2014) – Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford
  • Menisha Patel (2013) – Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford
  • Katie Best (2009) – KatieBest Associates, London
  • Marcus Svensson (2005) – Qlik, Lund (Sweden)
  • David Lin (2000) – Whitesun Equity Partners, Taiwan

Visiting Researchers

  • Katie Best
  • David Lin
  • Francesca Salvadori
  • Erik Vinkhuyzen
  • Natalia Ruiz-Junco

Our Partners

With our commitment to both scholarship and practical relevance, many projects are undertaken in close collaboration with partners in public services and industry. So for example projects have involved close collaboration with various fields and specialisms within healthcare including dentistry, robotic surgery, anaesthesia, general practice, obesity, and optometry; and organisations such as the Science Museum, the Courtauld Gallery, the V&A, the Royal Academy of Art, the Science Museum, and the Tate museums. They have also involved close collaboration with organisations such as Christie’s, Peter Wilson, Pearson; and industrial organisations such as Arjo Wiggins, Bosch, Siemens, Anoto; and leading industrial research laboratories at Hitachi, NTT, Hewlett Packard, Thales, and Xerox.

Projects also involve close collaboration with academic partners both in the UK and abroad, for example research groups at the University of Bristol, City University London, University of Nottingham, Edinburgh Business School, University of Bradford, King’s Technology Evaluation Centre, University of Oxford, IDS Mannheim, Telecom Paris, Stockholm University, Bocconi Milan, Vrije University Amsterdam, Copenhagen Business School, Warwick Business School, TU Berlin, University of Vienna, University of Basel, Zurich University of the Arts, University of Tokyo and Kyoto University.