DRS2012 Bangkok Proceedings Vol 4 - Design Research Society

The Opportunity for Design-led Transport Futures
The Transport Research Knowledge Centre defines transport research as comprising
‘studies, technical development and demonstrations concerning passenger or freight transport by
any mode, or a combination of modes’. Much user research with respect to transport design
has been influenced by ergonomics and universal design; for example in relation to
design for all, inclusivity, safety and a person centred approach as defined by Branton
(1978) in which
• The complete individual should be considered when designing a system (not merely
the part of the individual which is interacting with the system)
• An appreciation is needed that individuals bring a set of views, beliefs, values and
attitudes which extend beyond the current situation
• An individual’s values need to be recognized, understood and accommodated if the
system is to be designed properly
• An understanding that people act in an experimental and scientific way. They are not
passive, but test the situation and adapt their behaviour accordingly.
The fragmentation of transport related research across the sciences, engineering, IT,
design and urban planning has been commented on previously (e.g. Evans, 2005 and
Bontekoning et al, 2004). With emphasis being placed on the user journey experience,
this paper investigates the potential of mapping current transport research on to an
ergonomics model.
The hexagon spindle model of ergonomics
The hexagon spindle model of ergonomics (Benedyk et al, 2009) is an adaptation of the
enhanced concentric rings model (Girling and Birnbaum, 1988). It sought to refresh
outdated terminology, create differentiation and clarity between the sectors and to
acknowledge temporality. Although developed in the context of learner centred
educational ergonomics (Woodcock et al, 2009), it was intended to be applicable to other
domains, in this case transport research.
Models of ergonomics take as their starting point the user and systematically organise the
factors which influence the successful completion of the task. For example, the main task
of a student is to learn – this can be impeded or enhanced by external factors, such as
the design of the classroom, teaching materials and national agendas. Translating this to
transport design, the user becomes either the driver or the passenger, who may have a
supeordinate goal of reaching their destination (as safely, comfortably or conveniently as
possible). The fulfillment of this can be influenced by factors such as the design of the
vehicle, the transport infrastructure, behaviour of other passengers. The factors which
need to be considered for design and evaluation of interactions are shown in Figure 1.
Here, 6 factors are differentiated into 3 sectors – personal, organizational and contextual.
The hexagon framework is applied to the set of interactions pertaining to a single task.
For example, in a transport environment, such tasks may be planning a journey using a
transport information system, buying a ticket at a station or sitting in a vehicle. Although
such tasks have the same individual in common, they may occur using different products,
in different contexts and at different times. To represent this hexagons arranged as plates
along a time spindle are used. Each hexagon can represent a different stage of the
journey.
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