Form follows vision — user-centred interface design for rail traffic controllers' workplaces

In our Rail Human Factors approach, we define the human as the starting point for our interdisciplinary research on the design of human-machine interfaces in railway systems. One key focus of this approach is on the future workplace of the rail traffic controller. In this paper, a collaboration project between human factors scientists and trained rail traffic controllers is presented. Based on the methodological background of usability engineering, an innovative interpretation of the user interface of the German electronic interlocking system (ESTW) was developed. First prototypical propositions for the design of a future interlocking system were generated in an iterative process of design and feedback phases. Here, we made use of the advantages of the domain expertise of the usability experts as well as the rail traffic controllers. The resulting design is characterized by a decluttered central display / control panel on a single monitor.