DESIGNING MOBILE APPS TO IMPROVE RAILWAY SAFETY AND PERFORMANCE

Mobile apps and technology are a growing part of everyday live, with services designed to support (or replace) activities including shopping, sport and fitness, cooking, photography, travel and staying in touch with friends... [ view full abstract ]

Mobile apps and technology are a growing part of everyday live, with services designed to support (or replace) activities including shopping, sport and fitness, cooking, photography, travel and staying in touch with friends and family. If you can think of it, there’s probably an app for it, and mass-produced consumer-grade smartphones and tablet computers now provide a powerful range of integrated services. This combination of smart input methods, location services, data transfer, imaging, software and other features into one portable device, has the potential to deliver affordable context-aware computing to the front line of railway asset management.

Putting powerful mobile devices in the hands of staff across the rail network has obvious benefits and short term delivery of hardware can provide immediate field access to cameras, maps, detailed information and a range of publicly available apps and services. But harnessing such consumer services, features and functionality for the long term benefit of the railway presents a range of challenges. Enterprise-level technology and infrastructure services are obvious areas of investment, but the complex and safety-critical nature of railway systems requires a holistic human-centred approach and significant investment in business processes and culture change.

The poster will introduce some theoretical and practical implications of using smartphones and tablets in complex, safety-critical systems. Providing examples from recent programmes at Network Rail across themes including:

-- The user experience design process.
-- Hardware device strategy: which devices and who gets them.
-- Apps and services: what software is required and how to make it.
-- People-centred implementation: training, support, hearts and minds.
-- Quality and effectiveness: measuring if the investment is making a difference.
-- Future challenges: research, infrastructure, innovation and development required to further improve safety and performance.