Marlot Kuiper

216 Connective Routines of the whiteboards for example, are limited because of the affordances that the software system and posters already offer. Next, the spatial dimensions will be discussed. 7.3.2 Spatial dimensions With spatial affordances, I refer to the possibilities to use an artefact in its physical context. Not only the construction of the artefact (material affordances) are important to consider, but also how the physical environment, and other artefacts in it, affect its use. How for instance, can an artefact be transported and stored? Plainsboro An operating theatre is quite a spacious environment, in which various objects and materials are situated. The surgical table is at the centre, and around this central object various other devices are situated, such as the anaesthetic device, the surgical lights and various screens (Figure 18). In Plainsboro, the poster representing the Surgical Safety Checklist is put up at the wall at the back of the operating theatres, about three metres from the surgical table. This artefactual representation of the checklist is thus partly hidden behind screens and devices, and distanced from the centre of the theatre were the action takes place. Put differently, the poster (memory support) is literally out of sight. Interestingly, in the conversation about the introduction of the whiteboards with the scrub nurse in Plainsboro, she underlined that before the introduction of the whiteboards, they looked at the poster while performing the checks; “That was fine, then, wasn’t it?” The perceived possibility for use thus is that the poster can be looked at, and also that this is actually been done. The observations show that this was hardly the case however.