International train travel could serve as a more sustainable alternative to flying, especially for short distance journeys up to 750 km. Though both forms of transport have negative impacts, the environmental costs of travelling by train are significantly lower than travelling by plane (European Environmental Agency, 2021). Therefore, the European Union, governments, environmentalists and railway companies see great value in promoting train travel over flying for short distance journeys (Ministry of IenW, 2022).

In order to further promote this transition, a couple of action points have been identified by Donners (2018) to improve international train travel, ticketing being one of them. Unlike booking a flight ticket - which can be done within just a few clicks - finding, comparing, and booking a train ticket has proven to be a more challenging task. Recent research conducted by the University of St. Pölten in Austria (Preslmayr, 2022) revealed that one third of travellers are unable to complete their booking, highlighting the difficulty of this process. In order to promote the transition from air to rail for short distance journeys, the bookability of international train tickets in Europe needs to be improved.

It is difficult to change a complex system such as the international railway industry, but we can help travellers navigate it. This project aims to do that by redesigning a booking platform and app that support holiday travellers when booking and potentially rescheduling their international train journey in Europe with an intuitive booking process that provides clarity and guidance at every step leaving them feeling confident and excited about their journey.

An iterative design process led to the final design proposal. Created to be intuitive, supportive, adaptive and exciting, this redesign booking platform aims to ensure that every traveller, regardless of their prior travel experience, can easily book a suitable train ticket, leaving them feeling confident and excited about their journey ahead. The booking platform was designed to align with the user needs and decision making patterns. Core features to support this include route characteristics, transfer alternatives and search filters. A travel app was redesigned to complement the booking platform, creating a bridge between the booking process and the train journey. In case disruption does occur, the travellers are supported by the travel app that provides clear guidance for how they can continue their journey.

The user evaluation of the final design proposal shows promising results with an excellent score on its usability according to the adjective rating scale of Bangor et al. (2009) and positive responses from participants. To facilitate this redesigned user journey, some supportive processes need to be improved, including open communication and collaboration between carrier and ticket distributors, updated route information database and an EU wide disruption protocol.

All in all, it is difficult to change a large complex system such as the international train industry, but we can help travellers navigate it. While the railway system is expected to evolve, impactful changes may take time. Meanwhile, optimising services through redesigns can have a significant immediate effect on the travellers experience and provide access to a sizable potential customer segment. Therefore, further exploring and implementing the designs as proposed in this report will improve the bookability of international train tickets in Europe.

The purpose of this graduation thesis is to design for Tiler’s long- term strategy, based on research into mobility. As a hardware startup that produces a wireless charging solution for light electric vehicles, Tiler sought guidance on its next steps to grow into a thriving business in the future. The company finds itself in the tumultuous mobility industry, which changes fast as the world tries to decarbonise transport. The mobility transition requires collaboration between different stakeholders such as municipalities, mobility providers and other parties that help to enable the changes society wants to see. Forging a future of sustainable transport in cities results in boosts of innovation and regulatory responses as we try to define what we want urban mobility to be like.
After conducting in-depth research into the mobility context during the exploration phase, this project describes the design process of creating a dynamic roadmap for Tiler as a strategic tool for the future. This concept was crafted based on trend research, knowledge of the stakeholder system and technologies that could drive the product evolution. The designed roadmap distinguishes itself from the common format as it integrates the uncertainties of the mobility context through use of scenarios. To evaluate the content, the concept was tested with experts. To discover the value for Tiler, the concept was evaluated with the team in the form of a workshop. In this session, I facilitated a walk-through of the concept which triggered discussions about the impact of alternative future scenarios.
Based on this evaluation, the team has gained insights on which markets to approach, which stakeholders to manage closely and the importance of continuing the conversation about the company’s future strategy on a weekly basis. The dynamic roadmap concept shows the potential to be adopted by the company. Furthermore, to extends its application, additional research and design activities could focus on making it suitable for other target groups and adding additional visual elements to bring the future to life even more.

In recent years, we have become increasingly aware of the vast impact of the fast fashion and textile industry. Over the years the fashion industry has been abundantly criticised over its limited consideration of social and environmental issues and the widespread impact that these have. By now, textile creation itself has a larger carbon footprint than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. The biggest change can be made within the creation of these textiles. This is where Byborre and the Window of Textile opportunities (WoTO) come into play.
This project is executed in collaboration with Byborre: a frontrunner in creating transparent and responsible textiles and trying to change the way the textile industry operates. As part of their mission they launched WoTO: a platform and exposition that connects Byborre’s transparent textile supply-chain in order to collaboratively solve the industry’s sustainability challenges and aims to educate on responsible textile creation and use. This raised the following question that served as the kick-off for the project:
“How can WoTO educate, inspire and connect textile users, academic and industry professionals in order to drive collaborative, transparent and responsible textile innovation and creation?”
In order to find out, the project took a user-centred approach: the user’s perspective is leading in order to gain insight. User research consisting out of qualitative interviews, user-journeys and persona’s along with literature research on open and networked innovations was performed. The analysis of this research phase shows the complexity of interdisciplinary collaboration and the problems that users experience within WoTO:
The concept of WoTO lacks clarity, resulting in different interpretations and expectations of the platform. The network partners experience a lack of guidance, facilitation and moderation which makes it hard to keep overview and manage expectations. Due to a lack of, - or unsuitable collaborative systems and tools it becomes challenging for the partners to stay involved, connected and aligned. This consequently results in an unclear narrative for the visitors.
Based on ideation, co-creation and evaluation with stakeholders a service design vision for WoTO is created to alleviate this problem:
The service design offers WoTO partners an accessible way to engage with the Window of Textile Opportunities and stimulates and facilitates interdisciplinary working and communication within, and outside of the WoTO network. Decreasing the gap between the textile supply-chain and brands/consumers. By doing so aiming to strengthen WoTO’s primary functions: to forge interdisciplinary connections & educate on responsible creation and transparency.
It does so by offering guidance, orchestration and structure through various touch-points that support the the newly constructed collaborative model and user flow. These touch-points can be attributed to four themes:

Stimulate engagement
Create uniformity in collaboration
Guide towards alignment and change
Decrease the gap between the supply-chain and brands/consumers

To implement the service successfully a roadmap is given to help prioritise activities for the short term implementation. In order to make this possible it is recommended to further develop and test the service and keep the partners involved in this process.
Ultimately, active partner orchestration and community management is essential to WoTO’s operations and interdisciplinary work. If not performed, partners can’t align and the service won’t be able facilitate its purpose.

The domain of triathlon seems promising for Cadomotus, a company specialising in helmets, bags, and shoes. Right now, they are known for high-end ice-skating equipment, but the triathlon market seems a great fit and they want to expand further there. A new triathlon specific product would solidify Cadomotus in the market as truly understanding triathletes’ desires and demands.

A user-centered design process was used, meaning that athletes were involved in every crucial step. A double diamond design process was used. The results of the discovery phase were synthesised into a user-journey with 23 different design opportunities. Together with the company and users these were narrowed down to one design brief.

A creative session started the developing phase. Here four different concepts were generated, prototyped and evaluated. One of them was chosen for further development in the delivery phase. The delivery phase consisted of an iterative process going from paper to high-fidelity prototypes. This concept was put through a final usage evaluation, and its insights led to the Talaria. A new triathlon specific cycling shoe.

The reaction of users to the design was mostly positive. “I dare to say that I have almost mastered this element of transitioning and then directly getting into cycling, but this would work even quicker” - Sem.

The Talaria addresses two concrete needs: getting in and out quicker and stop the shoe from spinning during the second transition. The quicker athletes can get in or out of shoes, the better they can perform during their race. Especially in elite short-course racing this is vital. The spinning shoes are a phenomenon where the shoe hits the ground and starts spinning, which in turn can cause the bike to ‘jump’, creating stress and a potentially unsafe situation.

This master thesis for Strategic Product Design at the TU Delft presents a design for a personalised Volkskrant-app. The goal of this project was to explore the different possibilities of personalisation and see how it could help de Volkskrant fulfil its mission to enrich their reader’s life through news.
Why?
During my whole project I have involved readers, journalists and the product developers at DPG Media. Within the theory analysis, interviews and conversations I had with these stakeholders I have identified four reasons for implementing personalisation in the digital news distribution product of the Volkskrant:

Facilitating the fulfilment of the diverse reader needs of the subscribers.
The current home feed of the app and website of de Volkskrant mainly focus on the update-me need.

Developing the platform of de Volkskrant into a product that takes full advantage of the possibilities of digital news distribution.
The current digital news distribution product offer of de Volkskrant is still seen as a digital translation of the physical newspaper. It is time to look at what digital developments can offer something different.

Offering an extra service for the users of the platform of de Volkskrant
The rise of competitive platforms for news put pressure on the business model of de Volkskrant. Personalisation could offer an extra service to bind readers to the app of de Volkskrant.

Limiting the news overload that readers experience in current day and age.
De Volkskrant should help subscribers to find the articles they look for and offer a clear overview.
How?
To create an algorithm that would facilitate more needs of the readers, I came up with co-curation of the news. The digital news will now be curated by both journalists and an algorithm, both having a different responsibility:

Journalists: Delivering on the promise of creating the most relevant news events and productions that make de Volkskrant stand out.

Algorithms: Bringing the niche articles to the right readers by fulfilling their personal habits, deepening their knowledge in specific topics and surprising them with suggestions out of their filter bubble.
What?
The final design proposes two newly designed interfaces for the app of de Volkskrant. Focusing on two scenarios:

Getting the right article to the right reader: the home feed
The newly designed home feed is co-curated. A horizontal scroll bar was added to the home feed saying ‘de belangrijkste verhalen voor jou’ - the most important stories for you.

This addition is based on three key principles for personalisation: transparency, autonomy and diversity. The horizontal scroll bar is distinctive because of its look, title and scrolling direction, allowing the users to dive into it or leave it out in their session.

This thesis has been written to conclude the master’s programs Design for Interaction and Communication Design for Innovation. The focus of this thesis is on the digital transformation within the de Volkskrant organisation and was commissioned by DPG Media, de Volkskrant’s parent company.
Since the digital transformation started, de Volkskrant has been struggling to keep up with technological developments. Partly because they rely on DPG Media to facilitate the infrastructure of their digital products, but within the de Volkskrant organisation, there is a lack of vision on what de Volkskrant should be as a digital medium. Therefore, this thesis explores the possibilities and challenges de Volkskrant currently faces and how the context, readers and organisation all play a role in that.
I used two methods; Human-Centred Design(UCD) and Design-Based Research (DBR). From this research, I concluded that the service that should be designed for de Volkskrant should be a mobile application. The interaction vision for this mobile application is the following: The mobile app guides the de Volkskrant reader through the articles and archives of de Volkskrant. It supports them in learning new things and exploring new perspectives. After reading digital news, readers feel in control, empowered, and accomplished. Additionally, some advice to the de Volkskrant organization was developed: By becoming a digital-first organisation, de Volkskrant can accelerate its digital transformation. It should play to its strengths of being a brand that readers go to for its good analytical articles and columnists. Additionally, it should use the development of its digital products as opportunities for change by involving all levels of the organisation into the design process. Thus, the result of this thesis is a proposal for a mobile app design as well as advice for the de Volkskrant organisation on how to accelerate the transition to a digital-first mindset and utilise the design process along the way to incite change within the company. To summarise, de Volkskrant should implement features into the mobile implication such as Dossiers, that bundle articles, and Overview, which provide a visual overview of articles, to not only create a better reading experience but to increase collaboration between departments as well.

In this graduation project for the start-up Dispertech, the usability and workflow of their NanoCET device is improved. The NanoCET is a research tool used in hospital and university laboratories, for which the following problem was stated: researchers and technicians working in labs have difficulty setting up and using the NanoCET device and software when conducting a measurement on the size distribution and concentration of nanoparticles. This leads to failed measurements and therefore a waste of time, materials, and samples. As a result of these issues, it is difficult for researchers to trust Dispertech and their NanoCET. The NanoCET faced challenges with its workflow, which is disrupted by going back and forth between the software and the device, with its underdeveloped analysis and measurement software, and missing feedforward and feedback in physical configuration elements like the ‘arena’, the clamp, and the cartridge. These usage issues have been traced during interviews and observations in the context, a competitor analysis, a functional analysis, a usability inspection, and a streamlined walkthrough.

The final design is developed through explorative prototyping, associative sketching using methods like SCAMPER and morphological charts, and creative sessions with peer students and with Dispertech. The final design is focused on a guided and efficient workflow, facilitated by the device but mainly by the measurement software. (Inter)actions in the workflow of the final design are clustered as well as the process allows. Consequently, the workflow is split up into three phases: 1) Insert cartridge, 2) Prepare device, and 3) Measurement. The physical device shows multiple differences compared to the current NanoCET: the ON/OFF button is visible and easily reachable at the front, the finger indentation of the knob is coloured to emphasize this use cue, there are use cues for (opening) the clamp and the packaging of a cartridge facilitates carrying information. The cartridge itself is redesigned to protect the coverslip and to provide more feedforward and feedback by making use of colours (and shapes) resembling the corresponding phase. The ‘arena’ is designed to provide use cues and fit the new cartridge. Moreover, the LEDs on the physical device are placed so they are always visible, whether the interaction is performed seated, or standing up. Each LED has a different colour to track the three phases and their colours in the software. In the software, the user sees an overview of the whole process. Information is hierarchically layered, using hover-information buttons to provide extra input when it is required during the process. The least amount of input is required to set up a measurement, supported by automatically filling fields based on the information given earlier. In this way, users experience careful guidance through each step of the workflow.

This master thesis report is the result of a six-month-long graduation project for the Design for Interaction master track at the TU Delft. The goal of this project is to improve the interaction between teenage girls and sexualisation on social media. It does so by generating awareness and empowering them to avoid negative influences that affect them on a personal level.

Teenagers grow up surrounded by technology. They live by social media, an environment in which they are constantly exposed to sexualised content and behaviours. Sexualisation occurs when a person’s value comes only from their sexual appeal or behaviour, to the exclusion of other characteristics. Exposure to big amounts of sexualised content and reactions online influences teenagers. They reproduce such behaviours, unconsciously post content that can be sexualised, and learn to believe sexualising is the norm. They are also not capable nor experienced to deal with the consequences of their content being sexualised.
Therefore, I identified an opportunity to design an intervention that proposes a solution to those issues.

The Sexualisation Dialogue is a program consisting of an educational plan, the Learning Journey, and two tools to educate and empower teenage girls in their interactions with sexualisation on social media. The Learning Journey proposes weekly and monthly sessions for secondary school students, where they reflect and discuss sexualisation, sexualised contents and reactions, posting content, feeling empowered, and other topics. Through exercises teenagers learn to be aware and reflective when interacting with social media content. The two tools, the Awareness Sticker and Power-App, help the teens apply the learned lessons in practice. The Awareness Sticker, placed on the back of their phones, prompts a reflection moment at the time of sharing content, to think about one’s reasons for posting and how people could react. The Power-App promotes the use of stickers and hashtags to feel empowered by communicating how they feel about themselves and the content they post.
The design was field tested with twelve teenage girls, and evaluated with two educators. The Sexualisation Dialogue shows promise to generate awareness about sexualisation among teens, to inspire a reflective attitude in their interactions with social media and to help them feel empowered and in control. Although further testing is required to evaluate and completely detail all aspects of the design, it shows potential to fulfil the design goal. The Learning Journey should be evaluated in its entirety and the two tools fully developed and tested to assess their effect over an extended period of time.

This project followed a human- and society-focus. I arrived at the final design after multiple rounds of field research and design activities including a field study with the target group, contextmapping sessions and evaluations with experts. The domain of this project is complex, and involving multiple stakeholders has made the process richer and the insights more comprehensive.

In conclusion, the knowledge gained throughout the project, and the results obtained from the field test indicate that The Sexualisation Dialogue is a good intervention to tackle the issues of social media sexualisation. After following the final recommendations and evaluating the remaining elements of the design, The Sexualisation Dialogue should be ready to be implemented into the context successfully.

Concerns regarding the environmental impact of the aviation sector areincreasing. Especially short distance flights within Europe are criticized,since these itineraries could be replaced by more sustainable alternatives,namely international trains. More specifically, international trains combinedwith long distance flights, the air-rail journey, could be a sustainablealternative for the multi-leg flight. This graduation project explores whatis needed to make a shift from multi-leg flights to air-rail journeys withinEurope in 2030.The project is executed within the Seamless Personal Mobility Lab.Partners of the project are NS International, Schiphol Group, KLM RoyalDutch Airlines and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water management.The stakeholders are involved during the entire project. Above all, theproject took an use-centered approach, which means that the user’sperspective is leading. The project explores how the future air-rail journeycould truly address the needs and wishes of the international air-railtraveller.The goal of the project is to create a design vision for air-rail journeys, thatfacilitates in creating a seamless travel experience between planes andinternational trains within Europe. To create this design vision, researchregarding the rationale, steps & patterns, users and stakeholders isconducted. This creates understanding of the needs, wishes and currentproblems surrounding air-rail journeys.Based upon the user research, the needs of international air-rail travellerscan be defined with the use of six need-based personas: The determinedsurvivor, the vulnerable rookie, the self-sufficient manager, the peacefulcollaborator, the spontaneous adventurer and the certainty seeker. heanalysis shows that international trains and flights are not well integrated,which makes the system hard to access, results in an incoherent serviceand creates an uncertain travel experience. This negatively influences thechoice for a more sustainable alternative than the air-air journey.Based upon the gathered insights, a design vision for future air-rail journeyis designed. First a concept vision is created, which is evaluated with usersand stakeholders. After that, the final service design vision of the AirRailAlliance is developed, based upon the gathered insights.The AirRail Alliance aims to unify air and rail, stimulates travellers to choosefor air-rail and assures them about and throughout the journey. By creatinga fair choice and providing a comfortable transfer and coherent services,the service aims to stimulate international air-rail travellers to choose forair-rail journeys instead of multi-leg flights. The AirRail alliance integratesservices, provides continuous guidance and manages disruptions over theentire journey. The traveller should experience this collaboration betweentrain operators and airlines, in the feeling of one coherent and unifiedjourney. Ultimately, continuous guidance, support and integrated disruptionmanagement should result in a feeling that nothing can go wrong, thefeeling of assurance.By implementing the service according to the strategic roadmap, anambitious scenario of substitution from air to rail can become reality in2030. This scenario will mean that around 12.000 air-rail travellers a daywill travel with the AirRail Alliance, which could lead to the substitution of63.000 flights on a yearly basis.

An analysis of the declining use of cash within the Netherlands and the eurozone. Recommendations and a redesign are created to tackle the challenges of both a declining cash cycle and a society with limited cash use.

Currently, the Dutch supermarket Albert Heijn is using a push strategy to introduce new products to their end consumers, the grocery shoppers. When new products are launched in the supermarket, Albert Heijn notices that the grocery shoppers often do not purchase these new items. This raises a question which Albert Heijn is not yet able to answer: Why does the end consumer not decide to purchase these new products?

Therefore, the purpose of this research has been to create an engaging iterative process for Albert Heijn. A process to gain an understanding of Albert Heijn’s grocery shopper’s needs regarding the different product elements during new product development in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry. By understanding the grocery shopper’s needs, Albert Heijn has the possibility to stay relevant and have raison d’être.

In the coalition agreement (May 2018) the municipality of The Hague has expressed that they want to support neighborhood WhatsApp groups (NWAG’s). The goal of providing support is to increase citizen participation and to improve neighborhood safety and safety feeling. Currently, there is no city-wide approach for supporting NWAG’s. So, the question is: how to set up a support structure for the long-term success of NWAG’s? This is answered in this design project and supported by the research conducted throughout the project. To set up a successful support structure, insight were acquired into the desires for support and the contributions of support given in other municipalities. The difficulty for police and municipality is that they have many assumptions regarding giving support to NWAGs. Even though these assumptions are either nonexistent or resolvable in reality, they hold back the police and municipality in starting to give (parts of) the support residents desire. The research also showed that support is very desirable for residents. The number of residents starting and maintaining a NWAG increases when any form of support is given. Residents want to receive tools for starting a NWAG and want to exchange information with the police and municipality about their neighborhood. Residents find it evident and obvious that the municipality would support NWAG’s in this way, and do not understand why this is not the case yet. The coordinator of a NWAG has a central role, as he manages the NWAG. Therefore, the design goal was to create support for coordinators. The principle of making a ward WhatsApp group (WWAG) is used, because that group contains all coordinators in a ward, a municipal official and (ward) police. The focus is on helping residents to start a NWAG, to connect coordinators to the WWAG and to outline what the WWAG should do.
Based on the user research, the following design guidelines were set up for providing support to coordinators:
1. Keep information as well as activities about safety-related topics.
2. Present information and activities straightforward, so that the purpose is evident.
3. Aim to include coordinators in decision making about WWAG setup and execution of certain tasks that maintain the WWAG.
4. Do not impose obligations for coordinators to become a member of the WWAG.
5. Make clear agreements between all WWAG members for mutual understanding.
6. Show appreciation for coordinators in person.
7. Provide practical tools that support coordinators, mainly in the starting phase.
The created support service consists of twelve touchpoints. Touchpoints are means to create interactions between coordinators and the support service. The touchpoints show the minimum means the municipality should use to provide support to NWAG’s. The support service helps residents to contribute to a safe neighborhood to live in themselves. This increases participation of residents as well as municipal and police officials in the neighborhood. This report shows the process of developing the touchpoints and explains the guidelines and touchpoints in detail, as well as elaborating on the implementation of the touchpoints.

This graduation report was commissioned by NS International to determine the wants and needs of travellers while travelling internationally by train, but also to identify the barriers which prevent travellers from actually using the train for cross-border travel in order to design a service proposition. This proposition will contribute to a pleasant customer experience for customers of NS International.The analysis shows that most travellers choose their means of transport based on travel cost and travel time. Overall, customers find international train travel too expensive and can get faster on their destination by car, for short distances, or by airplane, for long distances. In order to strengthen the competitiveness of international train travel the train network should be improved with more direct, high-speed connections.In order to make these changes the market should be open upped for competition or he collaboration between operators should be improved. Railways have to collaborate in order to provide cross-border services to travellers, but the railways are independently managed railways, which has a negative influence on the customer experience. With the current regulations, it is difficult for operators to operate on their own and to make real changes in the market.Since NSI has little influence in the market and is dependent on other operators, the innovation space is very small. However, several customer wants and needs can still be met without involving other railways. The analysis showed that inexperienced train travellers are quite uncertain during international train trips and want to be provided with relevant information about their trip.The customer needs gained in the analysis formed the basis for the development of four experience factors; insight, certainty, control and personal. These factors were used to guide the development of the service proposition.In the end, the service proposition Track & Change as developed. The service proposition aims to gives customers more control over their journey in order to reduce the anxiety, especially the anxiety of transferring, which travellers experience during their train trip. In this two-sided service concept, NSI ‘tracks’ its customers and provides them with information about their trip. In case of any disruptions in the customer’s trip NSI will informs it customers and provided them with the possibility to make changes when needed.The service proposition consists of five main components, which together aim to enhance travel comfort by reducing the anxiety customers experience when having to transfer trains. The first component is Mijn NS International, which is a personal domain in which customers can get access to up-to-date information about their bookings. This domain also gives access to the second component, Travel Support, which updates customers with relevant information of their booking both before and after departure. Customers can indicate their preferences in relation to the updates they want to receive.In case customers missed their transfer, NSI provides them with the Available Train Overview, the thirds component which also can be access via the personal domain. In this overview customers can indicated with which alternative train they want to travel.The fourth component is Tailor Transfer, in which customers can choose their transfer time during booking. Customers also get inspired with activities in and around the transfer station.The last component is Tip Loader, which provides customers with relevant tips during booking related to their current search command.

Mobile ticketing solutions are proposed as an alternative to the OV-chipkaart in a vision created by the Nationaal Openbaar Vervoer Beraad (NOVB), a council consisting of public transport companies, local governments and consumer organisations. By taking a user-centred approach, a design vision was developed for mobile ticketing in Dutch public transport.

An in-depth field study was conducted of the solutions available in Oslo, London and Seoul, focussing on the factors influencing the adoption rate and traveller experience. This identified factors influencing adoption, which served as the foundation for the proposed guidelines for a successful implementation of mobile ticketing solutions in the Netherlands.

By conducting user and stakeholder interviews and evaluations, discussing working principles, developed ideas and concepts, the following design principles have been identified for a user-centred mobile ticketing solution in Dutch public transport.

Efficient onboarding process - provide a set-up process that travellers are able to conduct on the go.

Accessible, immediate travel - allow for immediate travel through a virtual mobile OV-chipkaart without high financial barriers.

Dynamic interface, adaptive per phase - adapt to the traveller’s journey by providing context dependent information, such as arrival times.

Provide the right information at the right time - Unburden travellers from uncertainty by pro-actively providing them with important contextual information.

Mix Matters - Provide clear distinguishable alternatives as travellers can have different preferences for fare media.

Independence from location-bound machines - Make sure that a mobile ticketing solution can operate independently from these location-bound machines. (e.g. mobile top up)

Using these design principles, a customer journey and proposed design was made and a first prototype of the OV-betalen app was created. In order to comply to the established design principles, the OV-betalen app moves away from card-stored data and moves the data stored on the current OV-chipkaart to the backend.

Evaluating this prototype with users has revealed that this proposed design was rated on average as ‘Best imaginable’ on the System Usability Scale (Bangor et al., 2009). Participants also indicated that they hope that the evaluated app becomes reality. This report shows the process towards this proposed design vision and also elaborates on an implementation strategy for further development.

In the Netherlands 23% of the population (3.9 million people) has been treated by one of the 21.000 physical or practice therapists, in order to recover from a physical complaint. Of these patients, 80% needs to exercise in order to rehabilitate from their complaint. However, a large problem arises since 50-70% of the patients do not do as they are instructed. This project focuses on creating a business viable solution, aiming to increase the amount that patients exercise.

This project originated from problems that the researcher experienced, personally as a patient. A first step to a solution was sought within the Ready to Start up course (Q2, 2016). The project continued as an entrepreneurial graduation in collaboration with Rik Burger, a TU Delft alumnus. Rik Burger had developed a technology to improve the exercise execution quality. This formed the starting point of this project.

The project has taken an integral approach by focusing on the aspects of: human (desirability), business (viability), technology (feasibility) and society (responsibility). Extensive desk research regarding the market, literature study and qualitative research, have been conducted. Altogether: 50 patients were surveyed and 9 patients, 25 therapists, 2 care purchasers (Dutch: zorginkoper), 2 financial chiefs of two large healthcare institutions and 1 paramedical advisor of an insurance company were all interviewed.

Through literature study and qualitative research a model was established which depicts 17 means to increase the amount that patients exercise. After internal and external ideation, 13 different functionalities were sketched and proposed to patients. The 9 selected functionalities formed one concept, named UNIPHY, which was proposed to therapists. Through their feedback the concept was enhanced. Subsequently, a high fidelity prototype was created, which was once again proposed to therapists.

The problem of not exercising as recommended, has been identified as complex, and to be one of the elements that harms healthcare quality. The designed product service system has evolved into an integral approach towards the improvement of exercise therapy quality and thereby the amount that patients exercise. Through a patient application and therapist dashboard, UNIPHY offers digital tools (figure on the right) which enable remote: support, evaluation, and management. With the help of these tools, the product service system facilitates the physical rehabilitation process which is expected to become faster, safer and delightful. Through qualitative research, patients and therapists have indicated to expect an increase in quality and thereby compliance.

Using UNIPHY, it is expected that the quality of life for 1 million patients can be increased and that healthcare costs related to exercise therapy will be reduced. Both aspects are considered to be a benefit for the insurance companies as well as to Dutch society. Research has indicated that the therapy market is competitive and that therapists are underpaid, and are therefore in need for a differentiating service. With the help of UNIPHY, they are expected to be able to do so and thereby increase their market share.

However, regarding the design, several aspects of the product still need to be developed further. The usage of sub goals, which plays a large role in drastically reducing the amount of time spent by a therapist, requires more detail through usage of actual use cases. Furthermore, currently patients are still able to falsely register their physical activity. Although attempts are made to obstruct this, research will still be required to investigate its impact. Lastly, several aspects of the posture feedback functionality need to be developed further. This can be done once the required technology is developed further to realize feedback that is sufficiently accurate.

According to the first estimations, €75K seed funding will be required in order to take this project further. The process of attracting funding can be initiated as soon as the business plan is finalized. With seed funding at hand, the product should be evaluated as a whole with the help of a second generation prototype. Once this is positively evaluated, the UNIPHY minimum viable product (MVP) needs to be designed, tested for its usability and validated through a clinical trial. To do the latter, a healthcare institution partnership will be essential. After validation of the essence, it is expected that the concept can grow further. With the help of another round of funding, more functionalities can be included.

Relevance -
Autonomous cars can offer many benefits and potentially nullify the road accidents caused by human error (94%). One of the threats, however, is the mode transitions between the levels of automation. In a highly automated vehicle (level 4), the vehicle can drive completely autonomous, but only during a defined use case after which the user has to take over. This leads to sudden changes in workload which can be detrimental to driving safety. The current designs do not acknowledge these safety issues yet. Therefore the goal of this project is to design a system where the transitions to and from autonomous driving in a highly automated car are comfortable and safe. The project is executed in collaboration with the design agency VanBerlo.

Literature study -
A literature study led to the identification of seven human-factors issues that affect the transitions between levels of vehicle automation, expected to emerge between 2020 and 2032: Vigilance decrements, complacency, manual skill decay, motion sickness, loss of situational awareness, predictability of the car and mode transitions
For automated driving, being a new development, it seems recommendable that the design should focus on building trust with the system and creating a built-in co-pilot that supports the driver in the new, more complex cockpit.
These different automation modes have been divided in assisted driving and autonomous driving with the difference being that in the latter one the system is responsible. In assisted driving, automated features like adaptive cruise control (ACC) and lane keeping can still be used making the system more complex. During autonomous driving, three measurable user states have been defined. Different studies show it takes 30-5 minutes from a sleeping state, 40 seconds from an inattentive state and 8 seconds from an attentive state to get back to the right driving performance level.

Field research -
A test ride with a partial-automated vehicle (Tesla model S) shows minimal feedback from the automated features which leads to confusion. Also, trust was a reoccurring issue emphasised during this ride. Observing six students of a driving instructor during the lessons show unsolved issues in planning, traffic rules and communication. Calm, clear and structured feedback from the instructor was favoured. The driving instructor emphasises the importance of communication to other road users.

Design goal -
The research concludes in the design goal: ‘Make the transitions between fully automated and assisted driving safer by increasing the situational awareness when needed, re-engaging driver vigilance, avoiding mode confusion and establish trust with the system.’

Design -
During assisted driving the HUD shows in combination with augmented reality what the status is of ACC and lane keeping and visualises their functionality to prevent confusion. Levers behind the steering wheel are used to control these features. Holding both activates autonomous driving. The steering wheel provides haptic feedback to indicate the take over after which it retracts as a strong symbolic message of giving the steering wheel to the system.
A framework is designed based on the literature research to facilitate the transition back to assisted driving where situational awareness and driver vigilance increase stepwise before a take over. Haptic feedback in the seat emphasises and pushes the user in the desired user state. If the desired user state is not met afterwards, auditive feedback is used to warn the user until the user state is met. These modalities are always combined with visual feedback to make the message clear. Holding both levers again initiated assisted driving. The steering wheel comes back as a symbolic message of taking the wheel and provides haptic feedback at the point of take over.

Evaluation -
A qualitative study with an interactive prototype, potential users and experts on automated driving is done to evaluate the design. It shows that the feedback modalities of the design work to facilitate the transitions. It is expected, however, that the steering wheel is presented back to the user in an earlier stage to initiate the take over. It remains unclear how the augmented elements work to facilitate ACC and lane keeping.
Next steps should be to evaluate the design further and design a system that communicates with other road users and add more functionality to the retracting steering wheel.