CASE STUDY. Transport For London

Transcription

1 CASE STUDY Transport For London

2 It s good to work with people who care as much as I do. The level of professionalism was immense. It was an intense, exciting time that produced an exceptional result. Roberto Rincon Business Improvement Manager Transport for London

3 BACKGROUND Transport for London is the integrated transport authority responsible for delivering the Mayor of London s strategy and commitments on transport. They run day to day operations of the Capital s public transport network and manage London s main roads. There are more than 31 million journeys made across the TfL network every day. Every journey matters and it is TfL s job to keep the city moving. Customers are at the heart of operations and TfL goes to extraordinary lengths to listen to and act upon feedback and complaints to improve services and shape better transport provision in London.

4 Londoners are a tech-savvy crowd. Everyone has a smartphone and is impatient for information. SITUATION Transport for London had been facing issues in which information was travelling too slowly between stations on the London Underground. In some cases, commuters were finding out about travel disruptions before station staff. Londoners are a tech-savvy crowd. Everyone has a smartphone and is impatient for information to make their commute easier. TfL wanted to improve the efficiency and speed at which they gathered vital travel information and disseminated it, comments Roberto Rincon, Business Improvement Manager at TfL. TfL had created a new initiative for staff on the London Underground to report and share station incidents, as they happened, via a realtime information (RTI) API. Specifically, real-time information could be provided on ticket hall and platform crowding, whether lifts were in operation, as well as information about train services. While initial applications of the new API proved useful it became apparent that its true benefit was lacking without geographic context.

5 We were also blown away by TfL approached CAF and proposed bringing the two together: realtime station information and a geographically accurate map of the London Underground. Combined, they believed it could increase the productivity of staff by surfacing information about stations relative to one another and promote geographical awareness for incident planning. In addition, there were benefits of providing enhanced customer service. Four potential suppliers were invited to pitch to develop a proof of concept for the new app, including Chelsea Apps Factory. Roberto Rincon takes up the story: We were looking to diversify and expand our roster of suppliers to bring in new ideas, new ways of working that we could learn from. It s a symbiotic relationship. CAF stood out in the pitch process because of the level of knowledge they demonstrated and the seniority of people they put on the pitch team. It felt like we were really taken seriously. The number of criteria that CAF met was the deciding factor - but we were also blown away by what was proposed - the UX was exceptional. what was proposed - the UX was exceptional.

6 APPROACH CAF teamed up with TfL to build a proof-of-concept (POC) ipad app that accurately plotted real-time information, the London Underground lines and London Underground stations on a map of London. We knew what we wanted to achieve but we wanted to guide, not impose our views. I liked that CAF challenged me when I needed to be challenged but also accepted my point of view when that was needed too. I felt like I was being listened to, commented Roberto. The project started in mid-november and we hit the ground running from day one. The onboarding of any new project is hard. Learning to work with a new team is hard and when you ve only a limited time you ve got to get on with it. Yes, we had to be fast but we also had to produce something amazing that could be presented to secure funding for the next stage of the project. During the project there were a number of pressures to contend with including: Time constraints the team had just four weeks to produce a POC. The highly regulated nature of an organisation like TfL. Roberto recalls: The team had to be creative. If an idea wasn t going to work out we had to think about how to get a result within the constraints of the business. CAF s team kept it fun and motivating throughout.

7 Having two UX designers on the team made a huge difference to the end result... RESULTS The resulting POC was delivered within four weeks. The app provides a bird s eye view of the London Underground as per its actual geographic layout, and displays in real-time any incidents reported in a station. Staff using the app can filter London Underground lines and incident types to find and select a station, revealing details of the information reported. Roberto commented: POCs typically tend to have no frills, however having two UX designers on the team made a huge difference to the end result, which had a big influence on being able to present the POC and get a fast decision on funding for the app. A live trial was conducted with station staff who immediately saw value in the ability to report and share real-time information with each other on a map of the LU. Plans were soon in place to reduce or remove slower and more cumbersome processes previously required for handling station crowding in favour of the new app.

8 Harlesden Willesden Junction bury dens d North Acton Bayswater Notting Hill Gate Edgware Road 1 High Kensington In addition to the app, CAF was able to provide TfL with new insights on Barons station staff s attitudes Gloucester and Hammersmith Court Road behaviours towards RTI and incident planning via a series of user research sessions. These findings, in the form Ravenscourt of mental models West and empathy Earl s maps, will Park Kensington contribute to the continued development Court of the app and RTI initiative. Stamford Brook Kilburn Park East Acton Maida Vale White City Wood Lane Shepherd s Bush Market Goldhawk Road Kensal Rise Kensal Green Queen s Park Warwick Avenue Shepherd s Bush Kensington (Olympia) Brondesbury Park Paddington Royal Oak Kilburn High Road Westbourne Park Ladbroke Grove Latimer Road Holland Park Queensway The plan is now West to put Brompton the app into production for London Underground, with plenty of interest from other modes of transport that TfL manages. For me as a product Fulham owner/customer, Broadway all I care about is the end result. It s good to work with people who care as much as I do. The Parsons level Green of professionalism was immense. Roberto concludes, Putney Bridge It was an intense, exciting time that produced an exceptional result. East Putney Southfields Brondesbury South Hampstead Edgware Road Marble Arch Bond Hyde Park Corner Knightsbridge South Kensington Marylebone Imperial Wharf West Hampstead Finchley Road Lancaster Gate Sloane Square Swiss Cottage St. John s Wood Victoria Pimlico Baker Great Portland Regent s Park Oxford Circus Green Park St. James s Park Chalk Farm 2 Warren Piccadilly Circus Westminster Vauxhall Tottenham Court Road Charing Cross Waterloo 1 Camden Town Mornington Crescent Euston Euston Square Goodge Farringdon Russell Square Holborn Covent Garden Leicester Square Mansion House Temple Embankment Camden Road King s Cross St. Pancras Southwark Lambeth North Blackfriars Elephant & Castle Angel Barbican Chancery Lane St. Paul s Cannon Borough Moorgate Bank Caledonian Road & Barnsbury Old Monument London Bridge Queens Road Peckham Islington Liverpool 1 Aldgate Tower Hill Fenchurch River Thames Canonbury 2 Dal King Dalston Junc Bermondsey Hagge H Shore High S Aldga Ea Towe Gatew Rothe Surrey C Cross