Passenger assistance connected app design
Network Rail
Role
Lead UX designer. Small scrum team of BA and 2 Developers.
Context
Designing a service for passengers needing travel assistance, focusing on accessibility.
Duration
Jan - April 2020
Challenge
It’s a manual process for passengers to book assistance for their train journey, and for staff to manage these bookings. Some passengers are getting lost.
We designed a digital service to improve the system:
1. The passenger-facing app for easy booking
2. The webapp for station staff to better manage assists and track performance.
Mapping the service
We held workshops with Network rail station staff to understand how passenger assistance works and mapped areas for change on a service map.
Service journey map showing the process of booking and receiving assistance.
Passenger focus groups
I co-led 4 focus groups with passengers with impairments across visual, hearing, mobility, learning disabilities and autism.
We talked about their painpoints and used insights to prioritise feature requirements for the passenger app.
In later sessions we tested journeys by printing the designs and talking through the content and features, step by step. It emphasised the necessity of an extra simple interface.
Staff needs
Reliable communication, assistance tracking, performance dashboard
Passenger needs
Confidence, peace of mind, independance and flexibility whilst travelling.
Summary of passenger insights
Summary of Staff insights
Passenger booking app
The mobile app allows passengers to book assistance for their travel plans and is linked to the staff app (see further down).
User flows and wireframes
Passenger app designs
2. Staff web-app
The web-app aids communication between staff at different stations
It allows staff to track passengers on their journey and manage their assist. When a passenger is met and assisted onto the train, staff "checks them in". Staff at the destination station knows when to expect them and "checks out" passengers when alighted.
Staff app - Wireframes
Staff KPI dashboard
Assist Dashboard: Performance metrics showing retrospective data on assist performance
Assist Dashboard: Advanced Booking showing upcoming bookings to aid in resource planning
The dashboard shows performance data (e.g. number of assist performed in a given timeframe) and a bookings calender to help station managers plan resources and measure success. This is to identify training opportunities and develop longer term strategies to enhance the service.
I approached this by prioritising questions relating to: What does the station manager want to know; what’s the relevant timeframe; why would they want to know this?
Learnings and challenges
Validating the user and business needs at the same time designing and building. Taught me to question the brief, be adaptable and respond to new insight and learnings.
Limited statistical data on services and passenger demographics
BAE technology are not set up for these types of projects. No tools for version controlling, or easy team collaboration meant my file management was manual and time consuming. This forced me to adapt my workflow to be even more organised and consciencious.