An integrated application suite for Traffic Control Centers

An integrated application suite forTraffic Control Centers
time Q32009
durationtwomonths

About VCV
VerkeerscentrumVlaanderenmonitors Flemish (highway) traffic to ensure traffic safety and traffic information reliability for an increasing number of vehicles on the road. Operators in the Traffic Control Centre monitor and guide traffic in real time by controlling traffic messages and signalization on the roads.
business b2b

Design challenge
The rapid expansion of VerkeerscentrumVlaanderenrequires a thorough revision of its processes and applications.
Namahn was asked to redesign the basic traffic monitoring functionality and to provide a basis for future integration of traffic monitoring tools.
discipline interaction design

Approach
define
understand
explore
Field study
Link analysis
Design requirements & constraints
Scenarios of use
Conceptual design
Prototyping
Style guide

understand

understand explore define
Field Study (1)
Several observations on site allowed us to gain insights in the operators’ working processes, their needs and habits within the current application context.
“I regularly check whether traffic information appears correctly on our website.”
While discussing ongoing traffic events, operators actively used the live footage. Sometimes they even walk over to the video wall and point out a specific event on one of the monitors.
“I prefer controlling traffic events manually to ensure that the information we send out is accurate.”
During the night shift, the operator on duty moves from desk to desk to manage the complete Flemish region.

Field Study (2)
A one-day observation in a Dutch TCC provided a good basis for comparing work processes, best practises and insights from a broader perspective.
Traffic jams are monitored and managed automatically, based on counters. The operators rarely need to intervene in this automated monitoring system.
Operators focus mainly on defining and managing traffic diversions (whereas for the Flemish operators, this is of secondary importance).
Operators are “always” on the phone coordinating the road inspectors. Sometimes, they even compete with the traffic police to be the first on the incident scene.

Link analysis (1)
To identify all actors and lines of communication within the control center, we performed a link analysis.
This analysis provided information for exploring the possible physical setup of the control room and focus points for task- and process flows.

Reporting
The field study findings were consolidated in a written document.
Learnings were grouped thematically, and illustrated using pictures and diagrams.

Design requirements
Results from the field study were reformulated into prioritised design requirements, so the scope and focus of the design became clearer.
For prioritising the requirements, we applied the MOSCOW-matrix:
Must have
Should have
Could have
Would have

Design constraints
The boundary conditions were captured in design constraints. These focused on technological, organisational and process-oriented constraints.
Both the constraints and requirements defined the design space for exploration.
Constraints focused also on:
The control room
Working methods
Representation of the traffic situation
Technology

explore

Scenarios of use
We described future interaction flows in a series of scenarios, focussing on the daily routine at the traffic center, including critical flows for the operator.
We wrote three scenarios:
A day in the control centre
Dealing with a new traffic event
A crisis situation
In each scenario, we focused on the various aspects that come into play: the organisation of the room, the work place, the software interactions and the human interactions.

Conceptual design
We explored design alternatives by means of low-fidelity sketches and verified the main design principles by illustrating the descriptions of the scenarios in the wireframes.
Due to the multiple monitor set-up, we did not solely focus on the screen design of the individual work monitors. The concept also defined organisation of, relations between and interactions with video monitors.

Detailed design (1)
Based on the stakeholder’s feedback we refined the conceptual design introducing custom controls and added realistic details.
Each task flow was illustrated by a sequence of static screen samples.

Detailed design (1)
Based on the stakeholder’s feedback we refined the conceptual design introducing customized controls and added realistic details.
Each task flow was illustrated by a sequence of static screen samples.

Link analysis (2)
Based on the link analysis, we explored how the future control room could be organised so as to optimally support the new workflow, processes and roles within the control center.

Detailed design (2)
During the design workshop, the designs were verified and refined for the specific tasks at hand.
We focused on collaboration, exchanging and sharing information and situation awareness of the operator team.

define

understandexploredefine
Style guide
The design patterns were defined in the style guide.
This document helps the developers to build the application correctly and to add future functionalities in a consistent way.

Outcome
During the design process, we focused on consistency in design and efficiency in use. As a result, the legacy applications that will be integrated share interaction patterns and information design, increasing the learnability and familiarity.
The explorations for control room organisation proved valuable for defining the view on future possibilities. The design verification confirmed the extensibility of the design and its potential to support an increasing flexibility in work flow procedures when monitoring road traffic.

Grensstraat 21 rue de la Limite
B-1210 Brussels
info@namahn.com | +32 2 209 08 85

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An integrated application suite for Traffic Control Centers

by Namahn on Sep 07, 2010

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An integrated application suite for Traffic Control Centers — Presentation Transcript