CHAPTER XX
Identifying the information needs of users in public transport Stephan Hörold, Cindy Mayas and Heidi Krömker Ilmenau University of Technology Ilmenau, Germany
[email protected]
ABSTRACT The development process of user-centered passenger information in public transport requires decisions in the areas addressees, location and information characteristics. To support these decisions, this paper describes a framework for identifying information needs of users of public transport systems based on the results of an information classification and an extensive task analysis. Keywords: public transport, information needs, user-centered design, passenger information
1
INTRODUCTION
Transportation companies, as providers of transport services and passenger information, obtain new possibilities for the development of passenger information. Passenger information may not only be stationary, collective and static but mobile, individual and dynamic in order to fulfill the information needs of their users (Norbey, Krömker, Hörold and Mayas, 2012). Identifying these information needs to develop user-centered passenger information systems, is difficult. Devadson and Lingam point out that users have different reasons for not answering questions about their information needs, precisely. Users may not know their real information needs in a special case or they don´t want to reveal their need for information, due to social reasons (Devadason and Pratap Lingam, 1997).
Nevertheless, identifying the information needs is critical for designing usercentered passenger information in the future, when technical development allows the communication of more, and more accurate information. The process of identifying these information needs in public transport requires four elements: The workflow of the user within a journey. The tasks that have to be performed in order to reach a destination. Available information which support the tasks. The passengers as users of public transport systems. The developed framework is a first approach to overcome the mentioned difficulties and to bring the results of the four elements together. It combines the results of formal analysis and empiric methods within the four elements and allows experts to identify the information needs of passengers in public transport. Figure 1 shows the basic elements of the framework with a list of tasks sorted along the journey workflow and an information classification including available information in public transport systems. The knowledge of the passengers is required to allow experts to shift into the passengers’ perspective to decide if an information is needed for all or some of the passengers.
Figure 1 Framework elements for identifying information needs in public transport
2
DEVELOPING THE FRAMEWORK
The development of the framework requires analysis in the four elements, beginning with the journey workflow representing the journey from its starting point to its destination. Based on the results of the workflow analysis, the tasks and available information can be identified and structured. Passenger descriptions, as result of the passenger analysis, complete the framework. Workflow of the passenger Traveling with public transport is different from using individual means of transportation. Passengers have to adjust to the system and its specifications, e.g. stop points for entering or leaving vehicles. For the identification of tasks and information, it is necessary to understand the procedures and coherences within the journey workflow. The travel chain (Verband Deutscher Verkehrsunternehmen, 2001) is a common tool to describe all steps of a passenger’s journey workflow. As shown in table 1, the workflow is divided into three phases. The first phase covers the step ‘journey planning’ as preparation for the journey while the second phase describes all steps of the usage of the public transport system including the way to stop points and to the desired destination. The third phase influences all steps of the travel chain and covers all tasks, when dealing with disturbances, within these steps. Table 1 Travel chain in public transport
Dealing with disturbances
Travel
Preparation
Phase
Step
Location
1
Planning the journey
Starting point: any location
2
Starting the journey
En route to stop point
3
Waiting for the vehicle
At the stop point
4
Entering the vehicle
Outside of the vehicle
5
Travel with the vehicle
On board the vehicle
6
Transfer to another vehicle
At the stop point
7
Alighting from the vehicle
At the stop point
8
Heading towards the destination
En route to destination
Tasks along the journey workflow Each step within the travel chain consists of several tasks and subtasks which a passenger performs along the journey. Identifying these tasks and subtasks is crucial for the development of the framework and the identification of information needs. Tasks shape the need for information based on the personal knowledge of the passenger who needs the information. The hierarchal task analysis (HTA) (Annet, 2005) is a structured approach for the analysis of a workflow. Each step along the journey workflow consists of several tasks that shape the need for information based on the personal knowledge. Subtasks, e.g. choosing the right travel times and connections, refine the identified tasks. Finally 16 tasks, identified by experts performing a cognitive walkthrough (Smith-Jackson, 2005) for every step along the travel chain, and 78 subtasks as result of conducted focus groups with passengers, define the results of the hierarchal task analysis. Table 2 presents the results within the journey preparation phase and the travel phase, as well as the tasks that arise when dealing with disturbances. Table 2 Hierarchal task analysis including examples for subtasks
Phase Preparation
Task Trip planning Choosing from different routes Document trip planning Purchase a ticket
Travel
Path finding to stops or station Bridge waiting times Entering the vehicle Travel inside the vehicle Alighting Transfer Path finding to destination
Dealing with disturbances
Realizing a disturbance has occurred Check of the disturbance influences on own route Identify consequences Decide to act based on alternative travel options or routes Complain about the disturbance afterwards
Subtasks Specify starting point Specify destination Specify departure time … Finding stop point Check remaining time … Follow route information Check remaining travel time Identify next stop points … Check available passenger information … Identify delays Identify altered transfers Identify changes within the route …
Information classification Identifying the information needs of passengers in public transport requires an understanding of different kinds of information and knowledge of actual or in the near future available information. For an information classification the actual information has to be gathered in an analyzing process first. In a case study within the German public transport we gathered available information and enriched the results with future passenger information developed in a case study within the IP-KOM-ÖV project (Mayas, Hörold and Krömker, 2012). Afterwards the resulting list of passenger information had to be structured and classes of information had to be found. For the German public transport system seven classes within the categories location, time and transportation system were defined. Table 3 shows these seven information classes. For international use parts of the classification have to be validated first as they depend on the public system in use. Table 3 Information classification for German public transport with examples for included information
Location
Time
Connection
Actual position in geographic context
Departure time
Route information
Stop point information
Arrival time
Number of transfers
Directions to stop points
Real-time information
Means of transport
Ticket
Vehicle
Network plan
Ticket price
Accessibility
Number
Validity
Load factor
Name of stop point
Terms of use
Eco-friendliness
Direction
Disturbance Reason for disturbance
Impact
Duration
Passengers of public transport Public transport systems address a broad range of different people. Passengers are a heterogeneous group that has different daily routines, various reasons for using the public transport and diverse knowledge of a place and the public transport system itself. Especially the diverse knowledge leads to different information needs to perform tasks along the travel chain. Therefore the different passengers have to be described so that experts using the framework can empathize themselves with the passengers.
One way for describing passengers, their expectations and knowledge, their feelings and personal daily routines is the persona technique by Allan Cooper (Cooper, Reimann and Cronin, 2007). It is essential to use a description technique that illustrates the passenger and covers all necessary information to understand the passenger’s task performance process. For the standardization and research project IP-KOM-ÖV seven personas for public transport were developed (Krömker, Mayas, Hörold, Wehrmann and Radermacher, 2011). The developed personas cover a range from high information needs and low knowledge to low information needs and high knowledge: Michael Baumann is a commuter from Stuttgart with a good knowledge of a place and of the public transport system. Michael has a tight schedule when traveling to work and cannot afford long delays. Carla Alvarez is a tourist from Barcelona who is new to the special public transport system of the city she is visiting. Casual user Hildegard is a 69 year old widow with mobility impairments from the north of Germany. Ad-Hoc user Bernd prefers his car over public means of transportation so that his knowledge of the transport system is limited.
3
THE FRAMEWORK
The results of the journey workflow analysis, the hierarchal task analysis and the information classification serve as basis for the identification of the information needs and shape the developed framework. The passenger analysis extends the framework and allows a passenger specific identification of information needs. The framework combines 94 tasks and subtasks with 87 information types in seven information categories. For every task a passenger might perform experts evaluate with the aid of the information classification and information types, if a passenger needs an information or not. Performed for all or part of the tasks, the information needs can be extracted. Not all users perform the same tasks with the same intensity and need the same information. Some passengers already know the next stops in the vicinity of their own position or the name of the stop they will alight from the vehicle. Some passengers might need information about accessibility while others need tourist information. Including personas into the framework allows experts to refine the common information needs per task with individual aspects of different kinds of passengers.
Figure 2 shows an example for the identification of information needs within the definition of starting and destination points during the trip planning.
X X X X
Location of stops
Identifiy stop points Identifiy adresses Identifiy own position Identify points of interest
description of the vicinity
X
stop points in the vicinity of the destination
X
Points of interest in the vicinity
trip planing Define starting point and destination
next stop points in the vicinity
X – Information needed for task 0 – Information not needed for task
actual position in geographical context
location information
X X X 0 0 0
X X 0 0 0 X
X X X 0 0 0
X X 0 X X X
X X X 0 0 0
Figure 2 Extraction from the framework for defining starting point and destination
The advantage of the described framework is the interrelation between the results of the hierarchal task analysis along the travel chain and the information classification. This interrelation allows the extraction of information needs and further information for the development of passenger information systems. The following questions may be answered based on the results of the framework: (1) Which tasks are performed when and where? Based on the results of the travel chain, tasks and subtasks can be mapped to every step of the travel chain. (2) Which tasks and subtasks require which information? The identification of the required information per tasks and subtasks is based on the interrelation between the hierarchal task analysis and the information classification. (3) Who needs which kind of information? If extended with passenger descriptions, the framework allows the identification of passenger dependent information needs.
4
RESULTS OF THE FRAMEWORK APPLICATION
For the development of passenger information systems the decision-making process of developers has to cover three characteristics: Identifying the addressees of the information. o Range: Individual to collective o Example: For all passengers at a stop or on board a vehicle or individual via mobile devices. Placing the passenger information system at the right location. o Range: Mobile to stationary o Example: At a stop point, inside a vehicle or with a mobile device. Deciding which characteristics the information has to fulfill. o Range: Dynamic to static o Example: Public display with real-time information or network-plans at stops. For example, when confronted with the integration of disturbance information into passenger information systems a developer has to decide who needs the information, where and when along the travel chain the information has to be displayed to reach the passengers quickly and how the information has to be shaped to fulfill the information needs. The identification of the addressees of the passenger information and the decision about individual or collective information requires a passenger dependent extraction of information needs. With these results the presentation of the passenger information can be developed according to the information needs of different passenger types. Figure 3 shows an example for the results of our work with the four personas Michael, the commuter from Stuttgart, Carla, the tourist from Barcelona, ad-hoc user Bernd and causal user Hildegard (Krömker, Mayas, Hörold, Wehrmann and Radermacher, 2011). As seen in the graphic, commuter Michael has high information needs in case of disturbances. Due to his tight schedule at work he cannot afford long delays. As commuter he has a good knowledge of his daily route, the transport system as well as the ticket and location information. In contrast, ad-hoc user Bernd and tourist Carla need this information as they are unfamiliar with the places and the public transport system. Casual user Hildegard has common knowledge about the system and the locations. Her mobility impairments result in an increased demand for special vehicle information. Based on these results a developer may decide if an information is relevant for all or part of the personas.
Figure 3 Example for the information needs of different personas
Placing the information at the right location depends on the passengers and the type of information. Disturbance information is needed in all phases of the journey workflow so that a mobile information system will serve this purpose. If the information should contain information about leaving a damaged vehicle, an information system inside the vehicle might be best. Decisions on information characteristics depend mainly on the type of information. Real-time disturbance information needs to be dynamic to fulfill its purpose while a network-plan is a static information over a long period. Furthermore, transportation companies and developers are able to compare their information system in general or at specified locations along the travel chain with the extracted information needs to identify information gaps within the journey workflow. This may help to develop a steady flow of information and reduce inconsistencies within the presented information.
5
CONCLUSION
International public transport systems differ from each other in aspects of network structure, ticketing, vehicles and organization. However the journey workflow and the included tasks as well as resulting information needs apply to most of them. Therefore the described framework can be applied in international context. In addition the results of the framework can be used to evaluate existing and develop new visions for future passenger information systems including human factors. Another field that should be analyzed is the connection between information types in order to identify mandatory and optional information for the completion of a task.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Part of this work was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology (BMWi) grant number 19P10003L within the IP-KOM-ÖV project. The project develops an interface standard for passenger information in German public transport with focus on the connection between personal mobile devices, vehicle systems and public transport background computer systems.
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