With only hours to go until the start of the Rugby World Cup, I for one look forward to the excitement that a tournament of this nature brings to a country. It’s with a tinge of jealousy that I look on and see a number of my ex colleagues from LOCOG deliver another amazing event – good luck to you all! There really is no...
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An interesting and provocative piece in the BBC magazine recently on research suggesting our conventions on queues are all wrong. Instead of the normal, long standing first-come-first-served approach, researchers in Denmark have suggested it should be the other way around…the people you serve first should be the ones who join the queue last. The traditional model is accepted to meet the need for fairness. The...
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It has now been exactly a year since starting my first role as a Human Factors Consultant. I feel as though I have learnt so much in such a short period so I thought I would share with you the 10 top things I have learnt. 1. The diversity of Human Factors I would say the first thing I realised soon after starting in my...
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Have you ever thought I can do better than that? Let’s not mention the mass hysteria when the London 2012 logo was launched! Angus Montgomery, Editor of Design Week, held a talk on ‘People Vs. Graphic Design’, at the Clerkenwell Design Festival with its panel of graphic designers: Patrick Myles (RIBA Journal art editor), Sarah Hyndman (Type Tasting), Jim Sutherland (Founder of Studio Sutherland), Jonathan...
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There has been a lot of coverage in the media recently around a newly published study that says office workers should spend more time at work on their feet. The study focuses on the benefits of standing at work because a clear link has been established between productivity and standing for certain tasks. Of course, as the study acknowledges, there are lots of other things...
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Every year in April, Milan erupts with energy for the ‘Salone del Mobile’. You go to the Salone and ‘Fuori Salone’ for ideas not so much to see products. It’s an intense few days to concentrate on design, exchange ideas with colleagues and to be inspired. The event requires strategic planning as it’s vast. Here are a couple of memorable installations, one from the fairground...
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Often the best ideas are the simple ones. For anyone catching a bus in London during the rush hour has probably experienced a mad crush on the lower level only to find that the top level is almost empty. For some, they like the convenience of sitting or standing close to the door. But for others, there the lack of visibility of what space is...
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In an earlier blog we talked about some of the uses of iBeacon technology. In this piece from the BBC, TfL are trialling their use in combination with a smartphone app to provide accurate walking instructions to the visually impaired. View the video > http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31757593 When we did our research work for Guide Dogs for the Blind, this kind of application was clearly something that would...
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Back in November Passenger Focus released it’s findings on what passengers needed when things go wrong; it didn’t paint a very good picture of how the railway industry handles problems. The recently issued National Passenger Survey continued to show a high level of dissatisfaction amongst passengers. We know it’s not usually done well because of the recurring story from passengers when things go wrong is “we weren’t...
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