SEAT FINDER DISPLAY FOR VIRGIN TRAINS - …rjh/courses/IntroductionToHCI/2015-16/...Human Computer Interaction Group 8 Computer Science MSc 2015/16 SEAT FINDER DISPLAY FOR VIRGIN TRAINS

Human Computer Interaction Group 8 Computer Science MSc 2015/16

SEAT FINDER DISPLAY FOR VIRGIN TRAINS

ADRIAN SMITH (1619667) ALFIE ABDULLAH (1571723) RAYMOND TJONG (1091724) ZSOLT PAZMANDY (1600690)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION: 3 1.1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 1.2. OVERVIEW 3

2. STUDY OF EXISTING TECHNOLOGY & SYSTEMS 4 2.1. INTRODUCTION TO RELATED SYSTEMS 4 2.2. TRANSPORT FOR LONDON 4

2.2.1. DESCRIPTION 5 2.2.2. PROS 5 2.2.3. CONS 6

2.3. AIMETIS SYMPHONY SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM 7 2.3.1. DESCRIPTION 7 2.3.2. PROS 8 2.3.3. CONS 8

2.4. SIGTEC RAPIDCOUNT SYSTEM 8 2.4.1. DESCRIPTION 8 2.4.2. PROS 9 2.4.3. CONS 9

2.5. NS DUTCH RAILWAYS LED PLATFORM DISPLAY 9 2.5.1. DESCRIPTION 9 2.5.2. PROS 10 2.5.3. CONS 10

2.6. FASTPRK SMART CITY SYSTEM 11 2.6.1. DESCRIPTION 11 2.6.2. PROS 12 2.6.3. CONS 12

2.7. SUMMARY OF FIRST GENERATION PROTOTYPES 12 3. USER PROFILES 14

3.1. PROFILE SELECTION 14 4. FIRST GENERATION PROTOTYPES 22

4.1. FIRST GENERATION: PROTOTYPE 1 22 4.1.1. RATIONALE 22 4.1.2. OVERVIEW 22 4.1.3. PROS 23 4.1.4. CONS 23 4.1.5. HEURISTIC EVALUATION OF PROTOTYPE 1 23 4.1.6. EVALUATION OF PROTOTYPE 1 AGAINST PERSONAS 25

4.2. FIRST GENERATION: PROTOTYPE 2 26 4.2.1. RATIONALE 26 4.2.2. OVERVIEW 26 4.2.3. PROS 27 4.2.4. CONS 27

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4.2.5. HEURISTIC EVALUATION OF PROTOTYPE 2 27 4.2.6. EVALUATION OF PROTOTYPE 2 AGAINST PERSONAS 29

4.3. FIRST GENERATION: PROTOTYPE 3 31 4.3.1. RATIONALE 31 4.3.2. OVERVIEW 31 4.3.3. PROS 31 4.3.4. CONS 32 4.3.5. HEURISTIC EVALUATION OF PROTOTYPE 3 32 4.3.6. EVALUATION OF PROTOTYPE 3 AGAINST PERSONAS 34

5. CONCLUSIONS DRAWN FROM THE FIRST GENERATION EVALUATIONS 36 6. SECOND GENERATION: PROTOTYPE 4 37

6.1. OVERVIEW 37 6.2. SPECIFICATIONS 38 6.3. EVALUATION METHODS 40 6.4. HEURISTIC EVALUATION OF SECOND GENERATION PROTOTYPE 42 6.5. EVALUATION OF SECOND GENERATION PROTOTYPE AGAINST

PERSONAS 44 7. RECOMMENDATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS 46 8. SUMMARY 48 9. APPENDICES 49 10. REFERENCES 50

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1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Executive Summary

The aim of this paper is to put forward a solution to a problem ever so often encountered by passengers of Virgin Trains: not being able to predict whether or not they will be able to find empty seats on the coaches prior to boarding. Before beginning the design process we will research some of the existing systems that attempted to address similar problems as well as to establish the personas and thus the user requirements of our intended solution. The first generation prototypes will then be developed. Combining any lessons learnt from these initial prototypes along with our own ideas and feedback from heuristic analysis and evaluations against personas, we will propose a new refined system design for the second generation prototype. The final prototype will then be judged to the best of our knowledge based on the same principles and evaluation methods as during our early assessments. Finally, we will present our findings, enumerate any new deductions we may find and introduce a list of our recommendations and observations which may be relevant to any further research. 1.2. Overview

When it comes to commuting via Virgin Trains, a common problem that pops into every commuter’s mind is “Will I get a seat and have a hassle free journey?” Nine times out of ten this is not the case, especially on the busy rush hour trains.

The existing seating display system that are currently implemented onboard the Virgin Train services feature a small visual display physically located above each seat. A passenger with no seat reservation would have to actually climb onboard one of the carriages and look through row by row to find an available (unreserved) seat. Morning rush hour commutes exacerbate this problem where it is not uncommon to see hordes of passengers flowing from carriage to carriage looking for available seats.

In practice, Advance Ticket holders are the only customers that have prereserved seats onboard the Virgin train services. These seats that are allocated for these specific consumers are at times not even occupied by the advance ticket holders themselves, as they may have decided to sit in other available seats. The resulting situation is that there are even less residual seats available for the Offpeak and Commuter ticket holders.

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The graph shows that Virgin train services are numbers 1 and 2 respectively by quite a

separation from the competition when it comes to complaints.

Furthermore, during busy peak times, boarding the trains on platforms can be very inefficient as passengers crowd and scramble to get onto the train for a seat. This makes journey times much longer and can disgruntle passengers already on board.

Hence, the problems that we are addressing is essentially that of inefficient passenger seating optimization and slow boarding times on the virgin train service. We believe it is imperative to find a solution that will allow passengers that do not hold advance ticket reservations to be able to find an available seat easier and more quickly while also pushing for a more systematic dispersal of passengers along the entire length of the platform in order to ease passenger boarding and thus optimize the passenger transfer process.

2. STUDY OF EXISTING SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY

2.1. Introduction to related systems

While there are not many existing systems that target the problem we are seeking to address specifically for trains, there are systems that have been implemented in the world that involve other modes of transportation. The following analysis of existing systems have all been included since they show promising relevancy to generating a solution that we envisage would further our efforts to solve the problem at hand. The following section is dedicated to introducing and evaluating complete systems that include various onboard people counting technologies employed by organizations such as Transport for London, Aimetis Symphony, SigTec, and NS Dutch Railways. These systems vary in the sense that although they all count passengers onboard various modes of transport, their methods employed to measure and output the data differ. The different approaches these systems took would allow us to evaluate a wide range of options and technologies that we could further implement in our prototypes to solve the problem at hand. The FastPrk system was also included here since their approach in integrating individual sensors with the overall system infrastructure was of interest to us had we decided to deploy a mobile application to display seat availability on our prototypes. 2.2. Transport for London 2.2.1. Description:

Travel for London employed a similar system on their bus service in the capital last year. Their press office was kind enough to provide us with some detail on their service and the company responsible for the design and implementation of the system. Free seat counting on London buses developed by Timespace Technology uses the existing CCTV infrastructure, which translates to significant savings on the costs of implementation (TFL, 2014). The

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onboard CCTV cameras make use of an existing imaging technology known as “high dynamic range imaging” (or HDR for short) whereby the camera takes a series of snapshots of the upper deck seat occupancy which are then used to derive a highresolution base image (Mirani, 2014). This image is then further processed by the system to figure out which seats look as if it is occupied and which are available (Mirani, 2014). The final data is then relayed to an onboard computer which processes this information and then displays it on the display board.

The problem that this addressed was the inconvenience of getting onto the upper deck

of a bus to find that there are no seats available. This would disgruntle passengers and delay boarding times at each bus stop which is very similar to the problem that we are trying to tackle except the mode of transport would be on trains instead of buses.

2.2.2. Pros:

The strength of the proposed system is that it is relatively cheap, considering the alternative methods of data gathering which could include in some cases, installing infrared

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sensors on every seat which would prove to be more costly. Furthermore, the data output on a visual display is very user friendly and the design is very intuitive. The technology is cutting edge and will make the journey for the passengers much more comfortable, by making it easier for them to find a seat and also to quicken boarding times at train stations, thus speeding up journey times altogether. In terms of ethical implications, the implementation of this HDR seat occupancy monitoring system does not extend any features beyond those of the existing onboard CCTV cameras that could be construed as to further intrude one’s privacy, hence it can argued that its implementation should not give rise to any further privacy implications (Mirani, 2014). 2.2.3. Cons:

Timespace Technology’s dedicated video feedrecording hardware (see Figure below) is required to be installed on the buses in order to process the data fed by the CCTV on the upper decks of the capitol’s famous doubledeckers. This poses the obvious disadvantage of the added costs if imported to each train coach, therefore the viability of employing the same system depends on how versatile and portable Timespace’s software is (Timespace Technology, n.d.). We have tried to reach out to the company to gather some technical information, but due to their concern over potential copyright infringement, unfortunately we were not granted access to any more detailed specifications.

2.3. Aimetis Symphony Overhead People Counting & Surveillance Systems 2.3.1. Description:

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Aimetis offers intelligent video management solutions for security surveillance and

business intelligence applications (Aimetis, 2012). Their systems provide a wide range of usage scenarios and in general offer a variety of services and operations which both in complexity and function reach way beyond the scope of the current project. One of the company’s main profiles is the complete design and implementation of indoors building surveillance solutions for large buildings (Aimetis, 2012). The service they provide reaches beyond simple security needs; a case study discussing their system employed at Munich Airport has proven that the surveillance system consisting of more than 2000 cameras was efficiently streamlined and rendered greatly effective in revamping security by enabling easily manageable live view at any of the 250 operator stations while also improving customer satisfaction (Aimetis, 2012).

2.3.2. Pros:

Various alterations of the software are extremely adaptable to various hardware and software environments and are fully compatible with many different video sources. The architecture of the system also allows for substantial scaling. The software developed by Aimetis allows highquality image rendering and highprecision object tracking, detailed information on occupancy, density, traffic flow, loitering etc. to improve security in highrisk environments such as airports (Aimetis, 2012).

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2.3.3. Cons:

The system not capable of rendering precise data by observing a set of about 64 predefined locations (average amount of seats on board Virgin trains see appendix 1), using the existing CCTV network on train coaches, which would be necessary for the accurate data evaluation for the scope of our system.

2.4. Sigtec’s RapidCount System 2.4.1. Description:

Among a number of relevant peoplecounting services implemented on various means of public transport, our research has included Sigtec's RapidCount systems. The stereo cameraequipped system employs an ethernetconnected device positioned near the doors of the vehicle that register passenger movements (Sigtec, 2015).

2.4.2. Pros:

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The systems which enable significantly accurate (~98%) measurement of passengers

boarding and alighting public buses (Sigtec, 2015). As the system was designed to be used onboard vehicles it includes certain failsafe mechanisms to prevent dataloss caused by sudden power outages, brownouts and cranking (Sigtec, 2015). This system allows for accurate measurements as to how many passengers are on the bus at a given moment (Sigtec, 2015). Therefore, this system could go a long way in allowing bus operators to perform analysis and optimise their service timetables in order to better align to peak hours of customer demand. 2.4.3. Cons:

Although the system has proven to be highly accurate and thus efficient in reducing costs of potential public transport operators (such as through the optimisation of their service in certain timeperiods at specific locations following customer demand), it may not be as efficiently equipped for use on trains for the scope of this project due to the fact that it does not efficiently register where passengers are (or are not) seated on each carriage, but is rather only used to count how many of them have walked past a certain line (ie. boarded/alighted a bus). Moreover, in terms of costefficiency the use of the device for the project is highly questionable as it would require the installation of several units (at least 1 per passenger carriage). 2.5. NS Dutch Railways LED Platform Display 2.5.1. Description:

In terms of data output, we are currently looking to draw inspiration from the innovative Dynamic boarding information system which was created in partnership between Edenspiekermann, ProRail, STBY, and the NS Dutch Railways. This was a joint effort in creating a giant LED display that sprawled the entire length of the platform which sought to increase the safety of passengers as well as the efficiency of the passenger transfer process (KITT engineering, n.d.). The LED displays contained highly useful information to passengers waiting on the platform such as the location of first and second class carriages, the exact positions of the train doors, and more importantly, the number of available seats per train carriage as well as the general crowdedness of each train carriage which are both measured using infrared sensors onboard the trains (KITT engineering, n.d.).

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2.5.2. Pros:

There are considerable advantages to implementing a system like this. This LED display system is highly visual and very easy to read which was highlighted in the extensive positive customer feedback. It emphasizes one of the most important features of userinteractive displays which is that of immediate legibility. This becomes especially vital in this setting given the general crowdedness of train stations. The LED displays also seek to indicate useful information such as location of train doors, service times, location of first and second class carriages, bicycle storages, and quiet zones, knowledge of which would in most likelihood increase make a passenger’s journey on these train services more comfortable and convenient (KITT engineering, n.d.). The more prominent feature of this system was the display of the relative crowdedness of each carriage through infrared sensors so passengers can find emptier carriages to board. This provides an opportunity for the train operators to optimize the number of passengers per carriage as well as increasing the general level of passenger comfort. 2.5.3. Cons:

The downside to this system is the fact that in order to make use of all of its functionalities including the monitoring of the general crowdedness of the train carriages, one would have to install multiple sensors on each train carriage. If we were to implement this design into our system, we would need a significantly greater amount of sensors for practically each seat in order to effectively monitor the seat availability of each train carriage.

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2.6. FastPrk Smart City System 2.6.1. Description:

The FastPrk smart parking system is an infrastructure of technology that focuses on providing a more hassle free experience when looking for a parking space in a city. The system employs a magnetic motion sensor embedded into the tarmac of parking spaces which are connected to a gateway device which covers a one square kilometer area. The information is then updated onto a central database via the Internet in real time. The data is then displayed immediately to the users via mobile apps and illuminated panels on the streets (FastPrk, n.d.).

The parking system has already been implemented with promising results. The Lenzburg

castle in Switzerland is one such that has benefited from the upgrade. They have reported that the system is extremely low cost, efficient, and very environmentally friendly. It has opened up multiple possibilities to improve the experience of holiday excursions to the attraction (FastPrk, 2015). The applications of the system that has been employed can be applied to the problem

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that we are scoping out. The infrastructure is is inspiration for what we are looking for in the train boarding system.

2.6.2. Pros:

The three tier system is very simple to apply in our system’s field. The input source will come from the train which will feed data wirelessly to a central data server which can then display the information to the users on the train platforms or even on an app. Installation and implementation will be minimal as there are existing sources of hardware that can be used such as CCTV cameras on the trains and the existing displays at select train stations. As the data is all transmitted wirelessly the product becomes scalable without limits as there is no need to worry about cabling. Due to the automatic operations the system will not require manpower to keep doing it's job, this will cut down on costs even more. 2.6.3. Cons:

Due to the heavy reliance on technology on the system, should there be a power outage there would need to be a failsafe implemented otherwise the passengers would be left without information. The method used here for data gathering is not ideal for the system that we are looking to employ as the sensor spikes cover large areas and we are looking to gather data from seats. Thus the TFL data gathering method is preferred over this. 2.7. Summary of First Generation Prototypes

Having reviewed the above systems, some of which are actively deployed in the world today, we have come to understand that in order to implement an effective solution that systematically addresses the problems of seat occupancy and passenger flow optimization, we would need a system that can robustly gather data regarding seat occupancy and output that data in a highly visual display. This display would need to indicate in one way or another as to which train carriages to alight in order to find the most amount of available seats. The approach TFL and Timespace took with regards to London Buses is thus of interest to us and in many ways, are inherently similar: We are looking to implement software into existing hardware (i.e. CCTV cameras); and the output of the data will also be displayed on an easy to read display that is colorcoded albeit with different visuals.

It is worth noting that the TFL’s approach to passenger counting on buses does not employ facial recognition software which is likely due to privacy concerns and ethics (Mirani, 2014). At this point, this is a major consideration for us since these concerns would very much crossover onto our system had we sought to deploy facial recognition software on Virgin trains. As have been discussed, the High Dynamic Range Imaging software deployed by TFL in conjunction with Timespace does not infringe on one’s privacy any more so than the existing onboard CCTV cameras (Mirani, 2014). This makes this particular technology our primary

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choice of gathering data regarding seat availability when it comes to tackling our problem for the Virgin Trains service.

In terms of data output, although the approach NS Dutch Railways took in building LED strips on the platform is not entirely consistent with our goals due to the costly nature of implementing such customized displays on each platform, the high evaluations they received from passengers at the end of their three month testrun at the Den Bosch train station suggested to us the importance of having a highly visual output display system that places emphasis on clarity and legibility (Edenspiekermann, n.d.). It may not be feasible in our case to install LED displays on every platform for Virgin Trains but this case example enforces our confidence that having a highly intuitive design of the display would contribute greatly to the general effectiveness of our system and would further contribute to improvements in passenger flow as well as the overall customer experience onboard Virgin Trains.

It became quite clear to us from the insight we managed to obtain from passengercounting technologies like Sigtec and Aimetis Symphony, that such technologies would only be effective in monitoring the general crowdedness inside train carriages if it were to be deployed on Virgin Trains. The problem at hand requires a solution that can specifically target and monitor individual seat availability. Therefore, deploying software onto an existing CCTV infrastructure that could be aware of passenger occupancy onboard a train remains our primary focus in tackling the problems.

The use of sensors as seen in the FastPrk and NS Dutch Railways systems was

considered when planning our first generation prototypes. However, had their approach in data gathering been implemented in solving our problem, it would require sensors to be installed under every seat in order to satisfy the requirements of our solution. This would have made that option costly to install and maintain compared with the alternative methods of gathering seat availability data such as the HDR image analysis method which is the one we ultimately chose for our first generation prototypes.

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3. USER PROFILES

3.1. Profile Selection

The three profiles we have selected for our project have specifically been chosen because together they offer what we believe to be a relatively wide spectrum of the demographic who shall be using our system.

The criteria for our selection of profiles was based on two categories: Mobility:

Physical Disabilities (Poor eyesight and dyslexia also included) Age (Some older people may move slower due to age, but not a specific disability)

Encumbering factors :

Luggage; Childcare paraphernalia (Prams, Pushchairs, carry cots etc); Uncooperative children.

We wanted to design a system that helps people who are travelling but are being slowed down by an issue that they cannot simply remove, Such as a disability or a child. The system is meant to help people who are moving slowly due to external factors and not just because of poor timekeeping. However the system will still benefit people who are simply running late, but that is a byproduct of the system and not the main objective. Mobility and Encumbering factors are primary issues and poor time keeping etc is a secondary issue. We did not select profiles for people who are poor timekeepers as that is a secondary issue. As the system is gender neutral and will have not have an improved or degraded performance impact regarding gender, we disregarded the selection of profiles based on gender. We also did not include any profiles for people who were blind, our system does not have a way of assisting blind people to find a seat. This will be resolved with the train companies already offering optional assistance for blind people if they wish to use it.

The profiles that were selected belong to users who travel by train on a semi regular

basis and also those who travel by train relatively infrequently, therefore the scope of travel encompasses the majority of train users. Another factor we did not wish to be present in our profile choices was those who had the option of prebooking tickets with seat reservations, and thus this group of passengers was left out.

The objective of our profile selection was to create a user base made up of people who needed to use our system to improve their journey and not just those who could use it casually without a real impact.

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User 1: Name: George Russell Age: 37 Marital Status: Married with 2 kids Education: UCL, BA Business Tech Level: Excellent Occupation: Self Employed Description:

Mr Russell is a successful selfemployed man who likes to take his family (his wife, his 4yearold son, and his newborn) on excursions around the countryside. He is not fond of busy crowds and primarily takes them midweek to avoid the weekend rush.

He will always like to be sitting with his family in a group of four. He does not need a table as long as they are close together. They need to be near the restrooms for baby changing facilities, as well as near the buffet cart for any snacks the kids may want.

He always buys tickets for the family when they get to the station and occasionally catches the end of rush hour, so they do not always get a seat.

His 4yearold is a spoilt brat who does not behave most of the time and is very stubborn, so getting him from one place to another is an absolute task, thus the family tend to arrive to the platform just as the passengers get off at their stop. Main Points:

1. He does not travel frequently on the trains as he works from home most of the time and only buys tickets when he gets to the station.

2. He has a troublesome kid who is always a hassle when travelling so he will not always

have enough time to get onto the train and find seats before the train leaves the platform. Thus having a quick way of locating free seats for him and his family is key.

3. They need seats near the onboard store and near the toilets for the baby changing

facilities and the option of having snacks and drinks for the kids. Frustrations:

1. His kid can delay the ticket buying process and they often have to rush onto the train platform and finding a cluster of four seats is hard to come by.

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2. They always look to be close to the buffet carriage for drinks and snacks and near to the toilets but this is hard to come by. Being close to the toilets are a priority as they need baby changing facilities.

Goals:

1. He would like to be able to get onto the right carriage that would have 4 seats together and to be close to the toilets. If they can be close to the buffet carriage it is a bonus but not necessary.

Scenarios:

1. George is taking his young son to visit his parents, he is not taking his wife or newborn child. His son has recently acquired and imaginary friend, this has created a great delay at the ticket office, when George had to convince his son that they only need two tickets. George is now late for the train and wants to find a seat as soon as possible.

2. George is travelling to London for a meeting, he has arrived at the station in plenty of

time and purchased his ticket, however he does not have a reserved seat. He would like to find a vacant seat at a table so that he can plug his laptop in and work while he is travelling.

3. George is travelling to see some friends in Edinburgh on a Friday night after work. He

has picked up and eaten a kebab on the way to the station for his dinner. When he buys his ticket he starts to realise that he has an upset stomach. The platform is looking extremely busy and he needs a seat near the toilets with enough room for his travel suitcase.

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User 2: Name: James Bronson Age: 34 Marital Status: Single Education: University of Warwick BA History Tech Level: Good Occupation: Auditor for large retail bank. Description:

James has to travel across the country at short notice for his job, the company booking system only buys open tickets without reserved seats, to allow the freedom of taking any available train.

James has dyslexia and always struggles to read the platform notice boards at train stations because they are so bland and change too quickly for him to take in all of the information. James likes to take his time to find his correct platform, but this often means that he is one of the last people to arrive at the train, so he boards quickly and does not have time to walk the platform looking into the carriage windows for an empty seat.

James has a damaged knee due to an injury from a car accident when he was younger. The accident left him with a limp that is slight but it does cause him great discomfort if he has to walk or stand for long periods of time, therefore he prefers to find a seat quickly when travelling on a train as walking through carriages trying to find one or standing for the length of the journey causes him pain.

James enjoys going to see his football team at weekends and he will often take the train to see them, as the ground has a train station on site. However the football trains are normally very crowded with fans standing around in groups in the aisle rather than sitting. This makes it hard for James to see if seats are available in carriages. The football trains do not offer a pre booked seat service.

James is shortsighted and wears glasses to see details, on occasion he has lost his glasses and has found it hard to read any signs that have been written too small.

Main Points:

1. James travels on train a lot for both business and pleasure, but will mostly not have a reserved seat due to restrictions from work when buying his ticket or the service not being available on the train.

2. James has dyslexia and is short sighted, this combination of disabilities means that

James takes a little longer to read notices written in small text, this will often cause him to be the last person to arrive at the train.

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3. James has an injured knee that causes him great pain if he has to stand for long periods, or if he has to walk through carriages looking for empty seats.

Frustrations:

1. James often finds that he has to walk through carriages to find an empty seat and this can irritate his injured knee.

2. James prefers to take a less crowded carriage so that he can make the most of his travel

time and do some work in peace. Goals:

1. James would like to be able to easily locate an empty seat without having to search the carriages himself, even if he is late for the train.

2. James would prefer to know which carriages are less crowded so that he can work while

travelling.

3. James would like an easy view system and not words so that he can see and disseminate the information quickly.

Scenarios:

1. James is late for his train at Euston, he has walked fast down the steep ramp to the platforms and this has caused his knee to hurt, he wants to quickly find a carriage with an empty seat and is reasonably empty. Our system would highlight to James which carriages are full, moderately full and mostly unoccupied.

2. James is waiting for the football train at his local train station, as it arrives it looks busy

because lots of fans are stood in the aisle blocking the view so he cannot see if the seats are empty. Our system would not only tell James which carriages are full, but the digital display will give him a breakdown of the carriage layout and indicate which seats are available.

3. James has broken his glasses and is looking for an empty seat as the train pulls in. His

eyesight is impaired so he can't look through the carriage windows and see any empty seats. Our system uses lights to indicate carriage occupancy, so James just has to walk to a carriage with a green light displayed next to it and he will know that seats are available.

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User 3: Name: Anne Jones Age: 66 Marital Status: Married Education: None Tech Level: Poor Occupation: Retired Description:

Anne is a retired shop assistant, she has been retired for just over a year, she is married and her husband still works.

She has a daughter that lives in the next town, her daughter has a son who is one. Anne's daughter has returned to work parttime as a legal secretary, she works from 9:00 4:30 and must leave the house at 8:00 to make it to work on time. She works on a rotational basis so the days she works each week can be different. She will often agree to work overtime at short notice.

Anne has agreed to look after her grandson while her daughter is at work. Anne's husband uses the car for work, so Anne has to take the train to her daughters and back home at night.

Due to her daughter leaving at 8:00 Anne has to take a busy train in the morning that is normally full of commuters and her return journey is the same. The commuter trains do not offer reserved seats.

Anne is in generally good health for her ages, but she does have some rheumatism in her back which causes her pain if she stands too long.

Anne buys her tickets in person each day at the station as she does not feel comfortable using the internet or the ticket machines, this means that she does not have a reserved seat.

Anne will often take her grandson out on the train to visit her friends, she uses his pram to transport him round, but moving from carriage to carriage with a pram is very hard.

Main Points:

1. Anne has to take a busy train most days and would prefer to sit down but cannot buy a reserved seat as she purchases last minute in person at the station.

2. Anne does not always travel each week and so buying a season ticket would be a waste

of money.

3. Anne travels with her grandson in his pram.

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Frustrations:

1. Anne would sometimes like a seat due to her back pain, but is unable to walk through the carriages looking for a seat because of her back pain.

2. Anne takes her grandson out in his pram and it is too bulky to move through carriages

with ease, so she normally stays on the first carriage she gets on, even if it is crowded and noisy and wakes him up.

Goals:

1. Anne would sometimes like a seat due to her back pain, she would like a system that shows her exactly which carriage has empty seats.

2. Anne would like to be able to find an empty carriage quickly so she can get her grandson

in his pram onboard without him waking up. Scenarios:

1. Anne is running late for the train due to a queue at the ticket window, she wants to get a seat but does not know which carriages have any empty seats. Our system will tell Anne not only the occupancy of each of the trains carriages but it will also show exactly which seats are free.

2. Anne is having some pain in her back due to her rheumatism, she would really like a

seat on the train, but her back hurts so much she cannot walk the length of the train looking for an empty seat. Our system helps Anne by telling her which carriages are less full. All Anne needs to do is go to a carriage with a green light next to it and she should find a seat.

3. Anne has taken her grandson out for the day on the train, he has fallen asleep in his

pram, but she also wants a to find a carriage that is empty so she has room for his pram and it is not noisy so he does not wake up. The pram is too big to walk through the carriages with ease so she needs to find an empty carriage by walking along the platform she wants to get on the train as soon as possible to keep him warm. Our system will let Anne know that any carriages with a green light are the most empty on the train, so she can walk along the platform straight to the empty carriage.

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User Requirements

The user requirements are based on evaluating our user profiles. The requirements are based on what we have identified as key needs of the user profiles, but they are also based upon what are fundamental for all users.

1. Two of our users wear glasses as do a significant proportion of the population, therefore, the system needs to be big and easy to see so that those with impaired vision will be able to see the board from a distance. If the system is big and easy to see from a distance then it will stop people crowding around them causing congestion.

2. Two of our users have physical disabilities that make moving quickly and not having a

seat on a train a genuine tribulation. Our system must be able to improve the journey for people with physical disabilities. The system must provide information that will allow people who move more slowly to still be able to locate a seat with as much ease and any other person.

3. Two of our users sometimes travel with children. The process of travelling with children

can be a problem as childcare paraphernalia can be very large and difficult to manoeuvre in tight spaces such as trains. Our system must provide information for people travelling with children to enable them to find where they can store prams and pushchairs, locate the toilets and find empty seats.

4. All of our users are unable to buy advance tickets and book seats, but they still wish to

plan their journey and make it as smooth and comfortable as possible. Our system provide the information required for those people who do not have a reserved seat to find one in as short a time as possible.

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4. FIRST GENERATION PROTOTYPES 4.1. Prototype 1 4.1.1. Rationale

The reasoning behind the design of this prototype was to present all the information in the simplest and most accessible way. The goal is to allow quick access of data for all passengers arriving into the station regardless of how busy the station was. 4.1.2. Overview

The first prototype involves large screens installed at the entrances to the platform that

display seat availability information for all carriages of the incoming train arriving at that platform. All of the seating information for each carriage will be available on one screen. In large stations there will be multiple screens, one positioned at each entrance of the platform. These screens would be displaying the same information so passengers will only have to walk past one of these screens in order to obtain all pertinent information regarding seating prior to boarding the train. In this case, we chose the option of having a fewer number of large screens because it guarantees that people will be able to view the seating information and make a decision on

where to sit well before they reach the individual train carriages. For the design of the prototype other than simple image editing software, we used the Balsamiq mockup tool, which does not support custom colouring of each individual layer displayed. Consequently the colours used in the prototype design are not completely representative of what we would consider to be the most adequate choice.

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4.1.3. Pros In terms of advantages this prototype might have over the other two, the installation of a

few large display screens would allow information to be displayed in a physically centralized location. This provides the opportunity for passengers to get a clear sense of seat availability per train carriage all in one go without having to physically walk down the length of the train. Additionally, this prototype is potentially cheaper than the other two designs presented below due to the fact that the screen used here could be of lower resolution since it only displays relatively basic information. A matrix display could even be adopted for this design thus further reducing costs. 4.1.4. Cons

However, two factors that could be regarded as disadvantages to this prototype would be the notion that by centralizing the availability of this information to the entrances on the platform, this could potentially encourage overcrowding at these chokepoints. A potentially hazardous scenario could unfold where outgoing passengers scramble to obtain seating information from the displays at the entrances to the platform all the while obstructing the flow of traffic from passengers disembarking the train. While we believe this prototype could very well show promise, further deliberation in regards to the exact positioning of these displays is warranted. Secondly, it can be argued that in the case for this design, there is a very fine line between showing enough information so as to increase convenience for consumers and having too much data to the point where it becomes visually cluttered. In order to progress this prototype, extra care will need to be taken in order to ensure the latter does not become an issue. 4.1.5. Table 1. HEURISTIC EVALUATION OF PROTOTYPE 1

# USABILITY HEURISTIC COMMENTS SATISFIES CRITERIA

1 Visibility of system status: Too cluttered; Choice of bright colours are very

hard on the eyes. Location of facilities indicated with

words, could be difficult for non English speaking passengers.

NO

2 Match between system and the real world:

Minimal words used on the display. No chance of confusion.

Seat availability expressed with high simplicity:

Green to indicate vacant seat Red to indicate occupied seat

YES

3 User control and freedom: Not relevant in this case to consider User control and freedom since

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users interact with this system only through looking at the visual displays.

N/A

4 Consistency and standards: Conventional vocabulary used, just as elsewhere at train stations so as to avoid confusion;

Free seat indicator uses a universally used green/red colour system.

Some relevant information missing specific to train passengers (e.g clock, platform number, train status).

Not completely representative of the carriage layout, e.g. luggage racks.

NO

5 Error prevention: Not relevant, as there is no feedback to passengers in case they misinterpret the information on the screen.

N/A

6 Recognition rather than recall: Not relevant, as ours is a onescreen system.

N/A

7 Flexibility and efficiency of use: Not relevant, as passengers do not actively interact with the display.

N/A

8 Aesthetic and minimalist design:

Information presented is relevant to train passengers:

Destination; Time of arrival; Seat availabilities & locations; Accessibility & facilities

information; Some critical information missing

(e.g clock, platform number, train status).

NO

9 Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors:

Error messages displayed in simple language.

Passengers warned of system outages.

YES

10 Help and documentation: A trial run could evaluate the necessity of a basic howtoread guide displayed on the platforms

YES

RATING: NO, N/A, YES

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4.1.6. Table 2. EVALUATION OF PROTOTYPE 1 AGAINST PERSONAS

George Russell

James Bronson

Anne Jones

Scenario 1 Late for train and needs 2 seats together.

Has hurt his leg and is looking for a reasonably empty carriage. Would prefer to have a seat with extra legroom.

Quickly get on the train, because her train is leaving soon.

YES/NO Yes Yes Yes

Reason All the information he needs is available to him to make a decision where to find two seats.

Information is easily legible and he should be able to find his seat relatively easy.

Reading as much of the information on the display as she can (she has poor eyesight), she can determine which is the closest coach with a decent amount of available seats.

Scenario 2 Travelling to London during peak rush hour and needs a table to work.

Travelling on football match day. Platform is crowded and it is hard to see which carriages have ample seating.

Her back hurts, therefore it is not within her ability to walk long distances to a carriage for free seats

YES/NO Yes Yes Yes

Reason All the information he needs is available to him to make a decision to find a seat with a table.

Information is presented centrally above the platform so getting information on seats will be easy.

Even though she cannot make out the numbers perfectly, she can identify blocks of green areas on the screen, where many free seats are concentrated.

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Scenario 3 Needs to find a seat near to the bathroom facilities.

He has broken his glasses and is looking for a seat on the train. He cannot see if carriages are empty by looking through the window.

She is trying to find the closest and most quiet coach as she is travelling with her grandson in a pram.

YES/NO Yes No Yes

Reason The information is presented in such a way that aids him to find a seat near the toilet facilities.

As he needs his glasses to see he will not be able to know which carriages have seats.

She can read the information on the display, and decide which is the closest coach to her, that can accommodate her with the pram.

4.2. Prototype 2 4.2.1. Rationale

We included this prototype as an option since it offers a more detailed display of each carriage as well as a guide for exactly where the carriage doors will be located. It avoids confusion with people misreading a large screen with lots of carriage details. 4.2.2. Overview

This prototype features a collection of individual smaller screens, each positioned on the

platform where the train doors open. The screens will display only the seating information for the corresponding carriage that it is positioned in front of. It will show available locations of toilets, occupied and available seats and which way the train will be travelling. For the design of the prototype other than simple image editing software, we used the Balsamiq mockup tool, which does not support custom colouring of each individual layer displayed, nor the customization of fonts used to display text. The colours and text display in the prototype therefore, are not a completely authentic representation of how we intended to produce our design plans.

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4.2.3. Pros

The advantage of this prototype lies in the fact that these individual displays allow for the

presentation of more detailed information on each train carriage such as the exact position of toilets, bike parking, and luggage racks. The potential issue regarding visual clutter that may arise from Prototype 1 should not be a problem in this case since the individual screens would have more space to contain the relevant seating information.

4.2.4. Cons

A major downside to this prototype would be the fact that passengers would have to walk

down the length of the platform in order to view the seating availabilities of each individual train carriage. Furthermore, with a standard ten coach train, assuming there are two entrances per carriage except the first and last which only have one each, that would mean eighteen individual screens would be required in order to fully accommodate the train under this prototype design. This makes this prototype more expensive to implement compared with Prototype 1.

4.2.5. Table 3. HEURISTIC EVALUATION OF PROTOTYPE 2


1 Visibility of system status: Train status is not displayed; Does not display stations that the

train service will call at; Colour choice hard on eyes;

NO


Minimal words used on the display.

No chance of confusion. Seat availability expressed with

YES

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high simplicity: Green to indicate vacant

seat Red to indicate occupied

seat

3 User control and freedom: Not relevant in this case to consider User control and freedom since users interact with this system only through looking at the visual displays.

N/A



Some relevant information missing specific to train passengers (e.g clock, platform number, train status).


NO


N/A


N/A

7 Flexibility and efficiency of use:

Not relevant, as passengers do not actively interact with the display.

N/A


Information presented is relevant to train passengers:

Destination; Time of arrival; Seat availabilities &

locations; Accessibility & facilities

information; Some critical information missing

(e.g clock, platform number, train

NO

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status).




YES


YES



George Russell

James Bronson

Anne Jones

Scenario 1 Late for train and needs 2 seats together.



YES/NO Yes No No

Reason Walking up and down the platform is not an issue for them, and they can easily disseminate the LCD displays to find the two seats they are looking for.

Unless he is lucky and arrives to the platform right where a coach with many empty seats is going to stop, his injured leg will keep him from searching for an empty seat, as he would have to walk up and down the platform reading the screens.

Unless the nearest coach has an appropriate empty seat for her, she is not able to waste time walking on the platform looking for free seats, because she is relatively slow and she would miss her train.

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Scenario 2 Travelling to London during peak rush hour and needs a table to work.

Travelling on football match day. Platform is crowded and it is hard to see which carriages have ample available seating.


YES/NO Yes Yes No

Reason The display shows availability of tables and location of the nearest door, so he can tell where he needs to queue even before the train arrives.

He can struggle his way through the crowd on the platform looking for empty seats but it is very inconvenient.

Due to the pain in her back. She will not be able to walk from carriage to carriage to see which ones have vacant seats.

Scenario 3 Needs to find a seat near to the bathroom facilities.



YES/NO Yes No No

Reason He can locate both the nearest toilet to him when he arrives to the platform and also the coach with the most available seats near a toilet.

Having difficulty reading the screens even from near, walking up and down on the platform is not a safe and efficient enough option for him.

Impractical as she will have to walk from carriage to carriage to check for vacant seats. Having her grandson will make this even more difficult.

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4.3. Prototype 3 4.3.1. Rationale

This method of displaying the information was chosen for this prototype because it offers a detailed display of each carriage as well as a guide for exactly where the carriage doors will be located. The idea is to make it quick and simple for passengers to jump onto the correct carriage to get a seat quickly. 4.3.2. Overview

Inspired by the collaboration of ProRail and NS Dutch Railways, this prototype features a large LED strip that stretches the entire length of the platform. It will show seating information and door locations. The colours used are similar to that of prototypes 1 and 2 which would indicate available seats. For the design of the prototype we used the Balsamiq mockup tool and basic image editing software. Since Balsamiq does not feature customization of colours of layers displayed, this prototype design is not completely representative of what we would consider to be the most adequate choice.

4.3.3. Pros

This prototype has the advantage of being both a very large screen but also the information is subdivided by the location of the carriages. It will show a full layout of the seats on this large display strip, but it will also show each individual carriage details exactly in the location where the carriage is going to be before the train actually arrives at the platform.

Compared with Prototype 2, this prototype will feature even more space and the

subdivision by train carriages should make the information very easy to read. This prototype will also feature additional lighting in the colors of green or red indicating the general level of availability of seats in the carriage. In contrast to Prototype 2, even though seating information is not centralized like Prototype 1, this prototype in a way, does not suffer the same disadvantage in that a passenger would not be required to walk down the entire length of the platform to see which carriages have available seats. Individual passengers seeking an available seat would simply be able to glance at the rows of lights and make their way to a carriage with a green light on it.

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4.3.4. Cons It is important to note that for passengers who would prefer specific seats (such as those

with tables or close to the toilet) or multiple passengers who prefer to find available seats next to each other, this Prototype offers no convenient support for that. In this case, as seen with Prototype 2, these specific passengers would have to walk down the length of the LED strip in order to view the individual seating arrangements above each train carriage entrance. In terms of financial feasibility, the costs of implementing this prototype could very well exceed those of Prototype 1 and 2 primarily due to the fact that this LED strip is specialized and thus has to be custombuilt. It would also have to feature its own proprietary system that would also need to be developed. 4.3.5. Table 5. HEURISTIC EVALUATION OF PROTOTYPE 3


1 Visibility of system status: No train information (status, location, time etc.) is displayed;

NO


Passengers’ understanding of free seat indicator is assumed no explanation;

Unexplained icons; Seat availability expressed with

high simplicity: Green to indicate vacant

seat Red to indicate occupied

seat

NO

3 User control and freedom: Not relevant in this case to consider User control and freedom since users interact with this system only through looking at the visual displays.

N/A

4 Consistency and standards: Although the vocabulary used is conventional, information displayed is not explained in detail;


No information specific to train passengers (e.g clock, platform number, train status).

NO

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N/A


N/A


Not relevant, as passengers do not actively interact with the display.

N/A


Critical information missing (e.g clock, platform number, train status).

Design is too minimalistic.

NO




YES


YES


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George Russell

James Bronson

Anne Jones

Scenario 1

Late for train and needs 2 seats together.



YES/NO Yes No No

Reason

Not a problem for them to walk up and down the platform to find two seats together.

Walking up and down on the platform searching for seats is not a viable option due to his injured leg.

Should the immediate carriage be full when she gets on the platform, walking up and down the platform is undesirable.

Scenario 2

Travelling to London during peak rush hour and needs a table to work.



YES/NO Yes Yes No

Reason

All the facilities on each carriage is displayed clearly and so he can queue up at the correct carriage.

He can manage to find empty seats by walking along the platform and reading information on the display, but it represents significant inconvenience on the crowded platform.

Again, walking up and down the platform will be hard on her back.

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Scenario 3

Needs to find a seat near to the bathroom facilities.



YES/NO Yes No No

Reason

He can locate both the nearest toilet to him when he arrives to the platform and also the coach with the most available seats near a toilet.

Reading screens is difficult for him already not being able to rely on his glasses. It is not advisable for him to walk around with reduced vision.

She will have to walk up and down the platform whilst pushing a pram. This design will require her to possibly walk the length of the platform depending on how busy it is.

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5. CONCLUSIONS DRAWN FROM THE FIRST GENERATION EVALUATIONS Since the train coaches are not displayed horizontally in the same sequence as they are

physically connected in reality, based on the user evaluations of our first generation prototypes we concluded that some sort of indicator should be included on the display so as to help passengers understand the direction the train is arriving from. This way, they could more efficiently locate the coaches they would wish to board.

Additionally, all three first generation prototypes did not display the current time nor the status of the train service. This is not consistent with the current visual displays that are in use on train platforms that serve Virgin trains. The inclusion of these two additional pieces information can be construed as being vital to further enhance passenger convenience and comfort.

Although colours are usually reasonable useful tools of conveying extra information (other than text, images, etc.) in our case they proved to be confusing; since our primary goal is to aid the passenger looking to find information on the platform as quickly and efficiently as possible, having to decipher what colours are supposed to represent is not desireable. Dozens of red and green squares clutter up the screen and are also visually straining. That is why in the end, we opted for a plain, monochrome screen, that serves the sole purpose of displaying the information necessary.

While all of our users speak English, that certainly will not be the case for everyone who uses the system. Therefore the system must have a way of conveying information without the use of written language. The use of symbols in place of words to represent commonly required facilities, such as the location of tables, toilets, bike storage.

We concluded judging our first generation prototypes, that if the display(s) are placed over the trains along the platform, passengers would have to walk to see what is being shown, which essentially defeats the purpose of our system. One or more screens, depending on the length and arrangement of the platform, may present a more ideal situation.

Since occupied seats are completely irrelevant to passengers looking for free seats, so they need not be displayed on the platform display. This is another way we can reduce clutter on the first prototypes.

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6. SECOND GENERATION PROTOTYPE 6.1. Overview

For our second generation prototype we have decided to progress with prototype 1 from our first generation models. The prototype will be based on large screens installed at each end of the platforms that display:

Seat availability information; Accessibility and facilities information; Layout of all carriages of the incoming train arriving at that platform; Timetable of trains scheduled to arrive at the platform.

We have made a number of changes to both how the display works and what information it shows. In the original design all seats were shown as either green for free or red for occupied, this made the screens very cluttered and made the information a little hard to interpret. We have now decided that as soon as a seat is taken, it shall no longer be displayed, as seats taken are of no importance to passengers waiting on the platform looking to find available seats this way the whole process is simplified and is made faster.

This should make the display a lot less confusing as only the available seats will be displayed as that is really the only information that is required. The seats that are available will now be displayed on the screens as a black background and yellow numbers with a yellow outline box. Realising that our early prototypes we missing an actual clock to which passengers could relate arrival or delay times of trains, we rectified the error in the 2nd generation prototype. A large platform number indicator has also been included on the display.

The non seat related information such as tables, and toilet locations will now be

displayed as images and not as words. This will now make it easier to understand for those people who do not speak English.

The Free Seats indicator at the bottom of the screen will still have a character display of

the number of seats available, but it will also have a preprinted rectangle that is filled up to act as a graphical representation of what proportion of the train is still unoccupied. The image will behave in a similar way to a progress bar, the more seats are taken the more the graphics bar will fill up.

As an added means of demonstration of how information is supposed to be interpreted

on the screen, the display could present transition animations explaining e.g. how the Free Seats indicator bar is filled up in order to help those passengers who are less familiar or accustomed to the obvious reference to progress bars commonly used in various software environments. In addition to brief animations explaining how certain parts of the display work, we considered the installation of brief howto guides printed in the close vicinity of the displays on the platform so as to give an extra level of support to those less quick to adapt and recognise the UI.

We created our designs for all four prototypes using the Balsamiq mockup tool, which is

does not feature complete customization of fonts and colouring of objects, this renders our 4th

37

prototype designs somewhat inaccurate as for instance the choice of a typeface is a crucial factor in evaluating the legibility and thus usability of our system. In order to maximize the display’s functionality and practicability, we would use monospace fonts to display all information on the screen. The highcontrast whiteonblack colour scheme. however, does come adequately close to what our final product would look like. 6.2. Specifications:

Following thorough consideration of the system’s requirements and passengers’ needs, we have set the specifications for the display as follows:

The screen must be easily legible even from relatively long distances, so for our final prototype our plans included a big, ~ 4700 cm x 2000 cm display. In order to be able to accommodate vertical sidebyside representation of the train coaches whilst maintaining outstanding visibility, we chose a 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

As opposed to the 1st generation prototypes we chose a monochrome display for our

final prototype for several reasons. In case of a twocolour display clutter is much more easily avoided, while vital information is still clearly presentable. Using only two highly contrasting colours also means that the possibility of causing visibility issues to colourblind passengers or passengers with poor eyesight would is reduced: yellow on black or white on black LED would provide outstanding visibility in any weather conditions or time of day (e.g. sunlight, fog, dusk). With respect to LCD panels which would increase installation and maintenance costs immensely, an LED dotmatrix display would consume far less energy. Unlike liquidcrystal displays, the modular structure of dotmatrix displays would ensure that they could still be used to varying extents in case some parts of the display were out of order. The dotmatrix display is much more readily and quickly serviceable and at a significantly lower cost.

Similarly to traditional displays that are often found at train stations, we chose a

monospace font. The easytorecognise, fixedwidth characters provide by far the best legibility on a lowresolution screen, even from considerable distances. Furthermore, for the same reason they have been preferred for decades by programmers, distance between characters and lines is much more easily recognised (see Figure 12). Due to the fact that the our design decisions, especially during the development of the final prototype, have aimed to find the highest usability and functionality with the least distractions involved, we no longer prefer highquality, highresolution displays or aesthetics of the screen. Similarly, the choice of the font we use is based entirely on how it may add to the overall functionality of the system.

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6.3. Evaluation Methods for the Second Generation Prototype

Just like throughout the first generation development of our prototype evaluation, we used Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics for our the second generation designs. Some of the original elements of the heuristics can not be applied to our system, as there is no active interaction on the users’ (passengers) side. Interaction between the user and the passenger information display is limited to the viewing of information, which means there’s greater emphasis on the qualities of that.

A proposal survey has been drafted that could be used after the prototype was built (see

Table 7). At this point in the development process we thought that it would be impractical to pass the survey to users because it is difficult to explain the scope to every single interviewee, thus the results of the survey would be far from being representative enough for serious consideration.

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Table 7. Proposal survey to gather user feedback upon installation

Introduction This is an interface that has been designed for the purpose of providing information on vacant seats on train stations. This will provide a real time update on available seats on each carriage. The idea is to enable efficient dispersal of passengers on the platform prior to the arrival of the train so that the journey is more comfortable and more convenient for passengers. Thank you for your time. The next couple of questions will allow us to grasp what consumers think of the prototype. Please be as constructive as possible as this will help us improve it.

1) Assuming this is the first time you approached this, how clear is it as to what information this chart seeks to provide?

Perfectly Clear Very Clear No Opinion Not Very Clear Not Clear

2) How clear is the display in indicating coaches with the most available seats?


3) How clear is the seating layout (tables, toilets, bicycle parking spaces) to your eyes?


4) To what extent is the color scheme clear and comfortable to your eyes?


5) If you were in a hurry to get onboard this train, how likely is it that you can get all the information you need regarding seat availability and location of carriage quickly?

Very Likely No Opinion Not Likely

6) How likely is it that you would consider using the mobileapp version of this?

Very Likely No Opinion Not Likely

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The idea for this survey is to find out what users will think of the system after it has been installed. This will help system producers to see how it could be improved and how it impacts the train stations when in play. 6.4. Table 8. HEURISTIC EVALUATION OF SECOND GENERATION PROTOTYPE


1 Visibility of system status: Appropriate system status indicator on the display: Information N/A due to

maintenance, power outage, malfunction etc.

Train delayed; Etc.

Easytoread visuals;

YES


System avoids any tech jargon; System avoids (as much as

possible) language, simple to read, universally recognisable images on highcontrast display;

Seat availability expressed with high simplicity: visible seat number: free seat; no seat number: seat taken;

YES

3 User control and freedom: Not relevant in this case to consider User control and freedom since users interact with this system only through looking at the visual displays;

N/A


Layouts of coaches, images showing accessibility and facilities on trains are universally recognisable;

Free seat indicator uses a widely used progressbar style visual element, which is quick to read and intuitive: When reloading & redrawing

information the display could use simple animations so as to

YES

42

illustrate how functions are supposed to be interpreted.

5 Error prevention: Not relevant, as there is no feedback to passengers in case they misinterpret the information on the screen;

N/A

6 Recognition rather than recall:

Not relevant, as ours is a onescreen system;

N/A


Not relevant, as passengers do not actively interact with the display;

N/A


All information displayed is potentially relevant to all passengers: Train arrivals; Seat availabilities & locations; Accessibility & facilities

information;

YES


Error messages displayed in simple language;

Passengers warned of system outages;

YES


YES


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6.5. Table 9. EVALUATION OF SECOND GENERATION PROTOTYPE AGAINST PERSONAS

George Russell

James Bronson

Anne Jones

Scenario 1

Late for train and needs 2 seats together.



YES/NO Yes Yes Yes

Reason

He can easily read which coach has two free seats at a suitable location, he can understand which direction they need to start walking to reach it.

All the information is displayed on a centralized display which will be ideal fro him. He can plan ahead and go to the correct carriage straight away.

She can look to the display and make an informed decision where she should wait to get onto the train carriage with available seats.

Scenario 2

Travelling to London during peak rush hour and needs a table to work.



YES/NO Yes Yes Yes

Reason

He can easily understand which coach has free seats around tables which will make it easy for him to find the correct carriage.

The information is centralized so getting to the correct section of the platform will be easy and convenient even on a crowded platform.

As the information is displayed centrally she can get the information she needs to get to a carriage with vacant seats.

Needs to find a seat He has broken his She is trying to find the

44

Scenario 3

near to the bathroom facilities.

glasses and is looking for a seat on the train. He cannot see if carriages are empty by looking through the window.

closest and most quiet coach as she is travelling with her grandson in a pram.

YES/NO Yes No Yes

Reason

He can locate the carriage that has available seats close to the toilets as the display shows all the information before he gets onto the platform.

Although the data is centrally displayed his impaired vision will make it hard for him to find a seat.

She will not need to walk up and down the platform with the pram as the information is displayed upon getting onto the platform.

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7. RECOMMENDATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS

We acknowledge that the lowresolution monochrome display is not nearly as aesthetically pleasing as modern displays in terms of colour representation and design. The implications of this are negligible however, as the primary goal of this system is to quickly and efficiently convey information on possible seating options for passengers on a train platform. From this perspective, the combined factors of functionality (owing to the highcontrast displays) and costeffectiveness largely outweigh any considerations of beauty.

In case of any system malfunctions, error messages must immediately be displayed on the screen so as not to confuse passengers. Although the actual content of these messages were not considered in this paper, it is important to note that they must be implemented along with the system if it does indeed go live. Error messages should include no technical jargon, but they should make passengers understand what is being shown on the screen, why it is being shown, and any further instruction available.

Since information provided on free seats is gathered and generated using Virgin Trains' digital seating reservations databases crosschecked with feed from the onboard CCTV at regular intervals between two stations, it can never be considered entirely accurate; its reliability would vary significantly depending on factors out of the scope of our project. For instance, how often does the display screen refresh with new data regarding seat availability. If a train has just arrived on the platform and the screen shows a certain amount of seat vacancies available in a certain carriage, it would not consider the amount of people lined up outside the train carriage door waiting to board that carriage and occupy those seats. If the implementer of this system does not consider this, the display screens could end up displaying inaccurate data that would only serve to confuse passengers. The passengers should also be made aware of these liabilities.

We employed one of the most commonly used layouts on Virgin Trains as a template for our prototypes (see Appendix 1); However, since the number of seats, location and number of facilities largely differ from coach to coach, any implementation of the current system must take that into account. The prototype has been built upon the generic carriages that make up two thirds of each train. It does not consider the first class or buffet carriages but this will need to be considered when the final product is completed.

Our system does not have any features that could assist visually impaired people finding available seats. The train stations and train service providers already operate a system that provides aid for visually impaired people at their request. Additionally, the physical size of our LED display screens has to be large enough for most of the population to see with average eyesight. On the other hand, one crucial issue that was present in the first generation prototypes and still remains an issue is the fact that having a centralized display board could encourage overcrowding and congestion at the locations where the display boards are situated. The station management must carefully consider the locations at which to install these screens as poor planning here could potentially lead to major passenger flow disruptions on the platforms.

The scope of our design is based solely for use by Virgin Trains. Therefore, Virgin Trains are the only trains that can make use of our system and they must only stop at platforms that have our display panels on them in order to utilize our system functionalities. Train and station

46

operators will have to plan ahead and ensure that either Virgin Train services get their own dedicated platforms where our display panels can be installed or that they can be allocated a platform that has implemented our system.

A potential extension of the system could be an interactive app that would display the

available seats to the customers in a more personal way. They could get real time updates of the availability of seats similar to how the FastPrk system operates.

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8. SUMMARY

The system was built on the basis of identifying the most common problem when travelling on Virgin Trains realising that there was no existing system that could identify available seats and relay this information to passengers prior to boarding the trains. Although there were no existing systems that addressed the same problem on board trains, we were able to draw inspiration from multiple systems that implemented similar concepts in one way or another. We were able to analyse and evaluate each of the systems and pull out specific components that could be applied to our prototypes.

We proceeded on to identifying three unique personas that represented a wide range of

requirements and needs when travelling on Virgin Trains. This allowed us to identify the user requirements. Coupled with the technologies which we drew from the researched systems, we came up with the first three first generation prototypes.

We were able to draw lessons upon evaluation of these first generation prototypes

through heuristic analysis and evaluations against personas. Some of the lessons learned included the lack of certain journey information for passengers such as current time and train status. The need to reduce visual clutter through better colour coordination of the visual displays and simplification of the seating chart by disregarding occupied seats. Furthermore, by using symbols in place of words this would ease absorption of information by users who may present difficulties in understanding words.

One limitation that arose from the first generation prototypes and remained an issue in

the second generation prototype is the fact that this system only installs a few display monitors per platform which could have major implications on passenger flow. We understood that these displays would naturally be crowded around by passengers and could present a health and safety risk at smaller stations. As we have outlined in our recommendations section the solution regarding this issue would potentially lie solely on careful planning by station operators.

Nevertheless the second generation prototype was developed which involved a

monochrome display that was significantly less visually cluttered and easier to understand. We applied heuristic analysis and persona evaluation on this prototype which did not reveal any major issues. However, it is worth noting that limitations were identified which were beyond the scope of the system.

A questionnaire was developed that would have allowed us to get a better sense of user

feedback from existing Virgin Train customers. Unfortunately the feedback was vastly insufficient for any reasonable evaluation. In hindsight we could have attempted to get more results so that we could have gotten a better understanding of the usability of this system and to identify aspects of which there is room to improve on. Furthermore, given the opportunity we could have further refined the design of the second generation prototype in order to make it more modern and aesthetically engaging even though this was not a priority to solve this problem.

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9. APPENDICES

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10. REFERENCES: "RapidCount: Passenger Counter" Sigtec, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015. <http://www.sigtec.com/assets/Brochures/PassengerCounter.pdf>

“Smart Parking in Lenzburg Castle (Switzerland)” FastPrk, 24 Nov. 2015. Web. 28 Nov. 2015. <http://www.fastprk.com/medianews/fpnews.html?wsdetail=%20246>

“FastPrk Sensor Specifications” FastPrk, n.d. Web. 28. Nov. 2015 <http://www.fastprk.com/oursolution/technicalspecifications.html> “TfL to trial new bus technology“ Travel for London, 5 August 2014. Web. 16 October 2015. <https://tfl.gov.uk/infofor/media/pressreleases/2014/august/tfltotrialnewbustechnology>

“London’s pervasive surveillance can now help you find a bus seat” Quartz, Leo Mirani, June 23, 2014. Web. 5 Nov.2015. <http://qz.com/224726/londonspervasivesurveillancecannowhelpyoufindabusseat/>

“Timespace V400 Digital Video Recorder” Timespace Technology, n.d. Web. 16 October 2015. <http://www.tspace.co.uk/timespace_v400.asp> “Timespace V400 Driving Security” Timespace Technology, n.d. Web. 20 October 2015. <http://www.tspace.co.uk/pdf/TimespaceV400datasheet.pdf>

"Innovative Trainstation Wins Rotterdam Design Public Prize!" KITT Engineering. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015. <http://www.kitt.nl/en/news/interactiveledplatformtrainstation/> "Pro Rail & NS: Innovation That Improves Safety and Comfort on the Platform." Edenspiekermann. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015. <http://www.edenspiekermann.com/projects/prorailandnsdutchrailways> "Cerebrus Intelligent Video Analytics." Aventura, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015 <http://www.aventuracctv.com/IntelligentVideoAnalyticsSoftware/> "MOBILE PEOPLE COUNTER APCR." Hella Aglaia. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015. <http://www.peoplesensing.com/products/mobilepeoplecounterapcr> "Accurate Passenger and People Counting with Stereoscopic Vision Technology." Eurotech. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct.2015. <http://www.eurotech.com/DLA/Library/wp/Eurotech_Passenger_People_Counting_Stereoscopic_Vision_Technology_wp.pdf> “AIMETIS Case Study Munich Airport, Germany” AIMETIS, 27 February, 2012. Web: 20 November, 2015. <http://cdn.aimetis.com/public/Library/Munich%20Airport%20%20Transportation%20Case%20Study%20%202012.02.07EN.pdf> “AIMETIS Symphony” AIMETIS, n.d. Web. 20 November, 2015. <http://www.aimetis.com/Symphony/>

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