Section	Interview Questions/Script
Introduction script (the interviews were originally held in Swedish; this interview guide has been translated to English by a native-speaker author)	Hello, and thank you very much for agreeing to be interviewed for our study! We are grateful for your contribution and insights.
	I want to start by asking: have you received sufficient information about the study, what it is about, and how your data will be handled, or do you want me to give you a brief overview? [if not, read script below]
	We who are carrying out the study are a group of work environment researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, who want to investigate what a good cognitive work environment looks like when assembling complex products. Cognitive work environment is about the conditions that affect your possibility to understand how to do a job, and how to do it in a good enough way.
	The result we hope to produce is a guideline that helps product design engineers, manufacturing engineers, workplace designers and supervisors to realize in time when a cognitive work environment can place too-high or too-low demands on assembly. Both too-high or too-low cognitive loading can be harmful, as it is neither good to be stressed and overwhelmed, nor to be bored and unfocused. The assembly may suffer either way. Our work aims to create workplaces where it is “easy to do the right thing, and to do that thing right”.
	When we interview you, we will ask questions about what is included in your work tasks, what you have been given the conditions to cope with them, what you find challenging, and what helps you to do your tasks correctly. Do you have any questions you want to ask?
	OK, then I would first like to remind you that all interviews will be de-identified and handled confidentially, and that only the research team at Chalmers will take part of the raw interview material. You can stop your participation in the interview whenever you want.
	The first question is: is it OK for me to start audio recording now? [If Yes, start audio recording]
Background information (this information is likely to be collected from the workplace management before the interview, to save time. The interviewee may confirm that the information is correct.) In general, this part is NOT transcribed.	Firstly: can you confirm if the following background information is correct for you? [show the participant data on paper, let them correct if necessary]
	Name? [only to be able to give feedback at the next interview and be able to double-check answers]
	Age and number of years of employment/experience? [only to be able to seek common features in the answers from all companies, among interviewees of similar age]
	Training time before working independently? How is work handed over during job rotation? How is work handed over when changing shifts?
	Time/cycle times where you work now?
A normal working day	1.What does a normal working day look like for you? (What tasks do you do, what tools and aids do you use when assembling?)
	2.How many different stations have you mastered, and how often do you change/rotate between them?
	3.Can you give some examples of tasks you do very often (as an assembler), and tasks that are done less often?
	4.Are there any work steps that feel both physically and mentally demanding?
	5.Can you describe how you feel about your assembly work here? (Are you satisfied with going to work, do you feel satisfied on the job, does it feel stimulating/boring, positive/negative?)
	6.How is your stamina/energy level after a working day?
The assembler’s own preconditions and resources	7.How did you learn to become an assembler? (education, training, working alongside a colleague, etc.)
	8.How long did it take before you felt you could do your job independently?
	9.Do you feel confident in being able to perform your work as an assembler in all situations?
	10.How often do you need to learn new assemblies or working methods?
	11.How do you prefer to learn new assemblies, now that you are working?
	12.What makes your work flow well? (How often/on what occasions do you experience a good flow in your assembly work?
	13.What can keep your work from flowing? (How often/on what occasions do you experience poor work flow?)
	14.Do you usually manage to perform as is expected of you?
	15.Can you plan your work and influence the work setup in advance? (How is that done?)
Challenges for the assembler caused by the work tasks and the workplace	16.How would you describe the cognitive load in your work (By this we mean, how you understand what to do and how to act on cues—do you often need to reason, interpret, concentrate, remember, make decisions)?
	17.Does anything make the assembly strenuous or frustrating?
	18.What would you say characterizes a good and a poor assembly setup, respectively?
	19.Are there work steps that are possible to forget?
	20.Do you need to keep a lot of information in mind when you work? Are there any memory aids?
	21.What kinds of assembly instructions are there? (Do you use them, if so why/why not? Do you have thoughts on how they could be improved?)
	22.Are there any sources of stress at work?
	23.Are there distractions in the work environment?
	24.Is there any disturbance from the environment (eg. disturbing noises, lack of or glaring light, reflections, vibrations, climate)
	25.Do you feel that you get variation in the tasks?
	26.Do you have any “tricks” at work to make it easier for yourself?
	27.Do you “work up” (work faster than the intended pace) in your assembly team? If so, why and when?
Challenges for the assembler caused by the product	28.Is any part of the assembly/product difficult to see properly, or interpret (both assembly details and any text)?
	29.Do you think that the design engineers should have designed something differently in the product to make your work easier?(In that case, do you want to suggest any change?)
Future/the long run	30.Is there a forum at your workplace to capture and make use of your ideas/suggestions for improvement?
	31.What currently makes you want to continue working as an assembler?
	32.Do you see any possible reasons to quit as an assembler?
	33.Do you think you would like to continue working as an assembler here even when you get older (until retirement)? What do you think would be needed to cope with this?
	34.Do you think you will be able to cope with the current work schedule and pace, even as you grow older?
Wrap-up script	Would you consider participating in a very short follow-up interview on the phone in a few weeks if needed, where I will ask whether you have gained any new insights while working or thinking about the questions afterwards? We expect it to take no more than 5–10 min, and as a thank you for volunteering in your spare time, we will send you a cinema ticket voucher to your home address.
	[If Yes —exchange contact information with the assembler (email, home address and telephone) and say that we will contact them by email for follow-up.]
	In that case it’s time to round off—do you want to add or ask anything?
	Thank you, this concludes the interview for now and I and my colleagues thank you so much for sharing your experience, it has been a great pleasure to meet you!
	We will transcribe your answers and anonymize the written material so that no answers can be traced directly to you, and all material is kept confidential.
	(If the assembler agrees to follow-up) In order for me to be able to contact you for follow-up, I would like to ask for some contact information so I can follow up, as well as an address to send a movie ticket to as a thank you. Once sent, we will delete all your contact info.
	When the project is completed, all participating companies will receive the overall result.
	If you have any questions or come up with something that you missed to say, there is the opportunity to raise it the next time or contact me (provide contact info).