Are virtual holographic assistants of value?

Our local station, Kings Cross, now has one of these holographic assistants reminding people not to take heavy luggage up the escalators but to use the lift instead.

You will note that just to the right, at the bottom of the escalator, is a sign giving the same message. That sign has been there since the station reopened and, we can assume, has not had any impact on people carrying luggage on the escalators and presumably on accident rates.  So they have decided to add to it with this more visible solution.  (this was also picked up by The Guardian)

These holographic assistants have become more common place since we first saw them at Luton Airport a few years ago.

We think the lessons for their use are much clearer now. The main point that they are not a replacement for a real person and should never be used as such.

What they do provide is a different channel to communicate information in a way that can attract attention. In this case, and the same when used to prepare passengers for airport security areas, they deliver information in a way that makes us notice it...at least for a while. This is good in places where static signage is not very noticeable, perhaps because of the complexity of the environment, and is clearly ignored.

The design challenge is probably reflected in the need to regularly vary the way in which this same information is presented as we become desensitised to each approach.

This should include the use of more playful solutions, which we have highlighted a number of times on this blog.  Although designed as a promotion for the Simpsons movie*, you could argue that this was a great way to draw peoples attention to the end of the escalator and improve safety.

* actually it looks like this was never used as an actual advert and the escalators in the movie was created by a street artist in Frankfurt.

Wayfinding tech - does it help?

There have been a number of technology solutions emerging with the potential to support wayfinding.

For indoor environments there is a move to more dynamic signage that offers the potential to adapt the message as necessary.  A new product suggests we might also be able to do it with the floor soon - www.stuff.tv/philips/led-carpets-could-banish-boring-floors-good/news.  The product uses LEDs in the carpet to be able to show pretty much whatever you want.

Indications on the floor obviously have some limitations especially in crowded environments (when you can't see the floor!) but we can see some value in moving images to encourage crowd flow or in providing supporting messages to reassure people they are moving in the right direction.  We'd see it more in encouraging behaviour rather than being used in isolation to navigate.

In an outdoor environment there is a new paint finish that is being trialled in Cambridge that glows in the dark.  The inventors claim that it could be bright enough to do away with street lights.

If it works (we saw the path soon after installation and on that evening it wasn't as glowing as the images), we can see a wayfinding value in showing primary routes through a space.

Finally, there is the ever-present Google Street View now coming to an airport near you.  Street View has now mapped the interior of Gatwick Airport allowing passengers to tour the airport before they arrive.  The wayfinding value of this is pretty limited as the chances are we will have forgotten what we have seen by the time we arrive.  

How to get on a train without it stopping?

Followers of this blog will know that we're always interested in human issues in design related to transport systems.  Clearly one of the issues with high speed rail is how you avoid stopping which wastes time and energy - but stopping is useful to the passengers to actually get on and off.

So we were amused and interested to see this solution from an engineer in China.  The idea being the train doesn't stop - you get on a sort of transit vehicle which hooks up to the train as it passes the station, you then move down into the train itself.  The transit vehicle stays attached and the people getting off at the next station move into as they approach the station; it disconnects and slowly comes to a halt at the station.

Whether the hassle of having to get down to one end of the train to get off will be worth the potential improvements in journey time is perhaps debatable.  An interesting solution though!

Transport chaos and the passenger

As the snow comes down so the UK transport system descends in to chaos. Given the general irregularity of heavy snow perhaps this is understandable.

But, as a group concerned with people, what stands out when watching the news reports is the number of people stuck at airports and train stations saying "we've been given no information".

How can this be so?  It would appear from the ground that so much of the organisations and operators' focus goes into sorting the problem that not enough effort is paid to informing the customers.

In these difficult situations, people need a constant flow of updated information.  Organisations are looking at using more technological solutions like Twitter to support this.  But this never replaces a well informed member of staff who can deal with questions and actually answer them.

I saw a piece last night on the news where trains had been cancelled at Peterborough and there was the usual chaos with uninformed staff, a lack of replacement buses ready to go and a total lack of organisation to help passengers know where and when to get the bus.  This suggests a lack of contingency planning on behalf of the operators to know what they are going to do when faced with difficult circumstances when things go wrong.

Transport is key to our economy.  In a civilised society we should be able to run a transport system that is passenger or user focused.  This means responding effectively to passenger needs for information when things go wrong.

New uses for railway stations

We've talked in this blog and in press articles about the potential for using station buildings or buildings near station for community or commercial uses - in part to promote better security by having more activity going on in or around the station.

And here is a great example from Edge Hill station in Liverpool where a disused building in the station has been put to use as an art gallery: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10937574

Is it safe to manage a station with less staff?

The recent claims in the news that LUL are planning to reduce the numbers of staff on station platforms (http://bit.ly/biujz9) highlights the issue of the role of staff in stations and how information and control systems are used to manage them.

We know that passenger satisfaction is strongly linked to the visible presence of staff in stations - they provide a source of live information and a sense of security.  This is not easily replaced by information systems or operators in a central control room.

Technology can have a role. We are frequently asked to look at new technology and determine if its use gives an operation that can be as safe as a human being on the front-line. For example, our recent work looking at the use of CCTV in driver only operated trains provided evidence that it was a safe process. 

However, people have qualities that are not easily replicated or replaced by technology.  So caution must always be taken to use technology where it is appropriate and not where people are better.

The final issue is can stations be effectively managed from a control room?  Can operators have a full awareness of situations through using IT systems and CCTV images or do they need people on the ground to support them? Do staff on the platforms enable a better quality of commnunication to passengers or management of a crowd?  

Situations such as evacuation or crowding are complex and dynamic and the role of station staff is important although it is difficult to demonstrate that operation without them is inherently unsafe or impractical.

The balance in these areas is difficult to achieve but it needs consideration of the operational situation and a careful allocation of the role of the human and of technology.

Is there a better way to influence passenger behaviour?

Railway stations, along with airports, are mainly designed to deliver throughput of people along with retail opportunities for the operator. Whilst all these are important for the success of the station it sometimes feels that the individual needs of the passenger are further down the list of priorities.

For example, at Kings Cross in the rush-hour you can watch the battle between passengers and the operators. Passengers all want a seat and when seats are in short supply they want to make sure they are first on the train. To do this they try to get as close as possible to the platform our train is arriving at. But the announcement of the platform is usually left until the incoming train arrives. This creates a stand-off with the passengers guessing which platform the train will arrive at and congregating around the barriers - ignoring all the calls over the public address to return to the main concourse. Whilst there are many operational reasons for this it is a constant fight against the behaviour of the crowd.

Maybe we need to be more imaginative about how we influence behaviour in public spaces such as stations. We loved this video of changing how people used stairs by making it fun. Not necessarily practical but thought-provoking never the less...