Commercial

The Environment and Changing Behaviours

Project Overview

In a society which is looking to change human behaviours for envionrmental benefit, Transport for London (TfL) wanted to understand how people travelling to work could be helped to change from using their car to utilising public transport.  Using the science of psychology and the collection of real-world data we worked with a large organisation to understand the individual reasoning behind why employees used either car or public transport to get to work.  Barriers to changing behaviour were varied - including deeply held emotions, perception of public transport users and practical issues such as taking children to school and the ease of parking at the work premises. 

As important to understanding why people are reluctant to change is understanding what induces change and how to retain change on a long term basis.  Incentives for change were tested including perceptions of how others in the organisation travelled to work, free personal travel advice and travel cards. 

Other key issues to preventing change were found such as how travel information is presented and the differences between experienced public transport users and those who had rarely used public transport. Barriers and incentives for short term and long term change were identified and suitable methods for change suggested.

 

Preventing Crashes Through Knowledge

Project Overview

Preventing crashes needs informed understanding of previous incidents to understand what happened, why, and how to use information to prevent incidents reoccurring. This project considered issues surrounding databases in general terms and the clients specific database and why they might not give good information on which to make decisions about resources and spend.  The database was considered using psychological research in order to inform how humans make decisions, reason and problem solve, how we interpret data and the influence of biases. Form fields within the database and their presentation and requirements were also considered, as was the collection of accurate causation rather than phenomena of incidents. Immediate, medium and long term recommendations were made.

Control Panel Design

Control Panel Design in Security Specific Locations

Project Overview

New equipment is often designed by engineers who are driven by technology and are familiar with the operation of that technology, and yet will not have worked within the environment specific to the equipments eventual use. Any design that is led by technology rather than the requirements of the eventual user is likely to encounter problems.  A good design is one that considers the human user and the environment or context in which it will be used. Consideration of the User at an early stage will identify the best way in which to gain optimum operation of the panel by a User. This project considered the effects of a control panel design in relation to security operations and human limitations both physically and cognitively and commented on the relation and effects of these factors in their physical environment.

Technology Interfaces

The difference between end users, experts and product perception

Project Overview

Clients of  highly advanced milling equipment were concerned that some users seemed unable to fully understand and interpret the machines Graphical User Interface (GUI) to deliver best results for the sorting of their product.  The users were located worldwide and highly varied in experience in the product, the use of GUI’s and in educational background.  Differences in understanding the GUI’s and the information presented between a highly trained engineer, versus the user who may not have much experience of the machine or GUI interfaces were uncovered. This meant that the way the GUI presented information (from levels of information presented, colour, icons, meaning) was reviewed to alter understanding and perception of product and address the needs of a highly diverse user group.

Single Control Rooms

Single Control Rooms – Their Purpose – Perception and Reality

Project Overview

Across many industries control room functionality is sometimes assumed to have the same purpose - mainly associated with security and safety.   However many factors can affect what control rooms and their operators are able to deliver when factors such as technology, human limitations and organisations processes and procedures are taken into account.  A network rail control room was reviewed to understand what could actually be detected by the technology, the operating staff, and the effects of organisation processes and procedures from a security operations standpoint. The measure was to understand the ability of the control room operator to see and understand safety and security issues at its rail stations on the network and the effects of such thing as work overload or underload and organisation Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s).

Communicating Danger and Risk in Airside Operations

Project Overview

Working airside is acknowledged as one of the most dangerous environments to work in.  This project was to understand the most effective way to deliver airside safety messages so that are read, understood, trusted and complied with. The project uncovered a number of factors affecting why safety communications may be ignored, unnoticed or mistrusted. Using the science of warning communications, the data gained from both employer and employees, and measuring the differences that existed in differing airside sites were used to inform and deliver new warning designs to airside operations.

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