Designing documents for train operators

Abstract

This paper addresses the issue of redesigning a train list. The train list is a paper document of few pages that provides train operators of the Italian railway company with basic information about the features of the railway line they are moving along, the means of traction and engine characteristics. Methodologies borrowed from the fields of document design and human–computer interaction were applied to the analysis, redesign, and evaluation of a new train list following a first prototype developed by the railway company. In all phases (analysis, redesign, evaluation) the study was guided by the theoretical framework of cultural-historical psychology, according to which artifacts historically shaped by human practice always mediate human cognition. The results of the evaluation provide empirical evidence to support the added value of combining document design techniques with the heuristic role of the historical analysis of an artifact, especially in a safety-critical context, so as to properly improve tools and instruments used in human activity and thus reduce the risk of breakdowns.

The persistency of psychological tools in air traffic management

“…However, although software tools are tightly coupled with hardware tools and originate in the interaction with those, they possess a persistency in human activities that goes beyond the material presence of those hardware tools they were originally coupled with. For instance, in a project dealing with the redesign of a train form for engine operators (Torsi, Rizzo, Pozzi, & Save, 2003), we observed how interaction modalities that were originally related to a specific tool may be maintained even after the tool is no longer present in the work setting. More in details, one of the main findings was that train drivers were applying the previous reading order even when the old train form was substituted by the new one -the reading order being considered a procedure, i.e.…”

Rail human factors: Past, present and future

“…A critical part of reducing potential for driver error and of increasing their effective (on-time) performance lies in the design of their jobs and job aids, and understanding and optimising-neither too high nor too low-their workload (e.g. Kecklund et al, 2003;Torsi et al, 2003). At a top level above all this, current research is addressing the fundamental elements of the train driver's role and performance (Farrington-Darby et al, 2005a;Jansson et al, 2005;McLeod et al, 2005b).…”