TravInfo Evaluation (Technology Element) Traveler Information Center (TIC) Study: Operator Interface Analysis-Phase III

Problem and Method

The first part of this evaluation considered the operator interface. Overall, the operator interface was found to serve its general purpose of allowing operators to perform their data monitoring and entry tasks relatively quickly. However, the general computer interface was found to not support the tasks of the operators as much as it could. The chief problems were:

• Fill-in form interfaces appeared not to be designed with consideration for operator tasks
• Some of the most commonly used windows had several shortcomings
• The two most important menus were not ordered in a logical manner
• There was no logical grouping of related fill-in form interfaces, and moreover, there are ambiguous terms and non-mutually exclusive attributes within certain fields
• There was a lack of organization across all windows.

Other general areas of weakness in the operator interface included the following:

• User compatibility: There should have been more consideration of specific operator duties.
• Consistency: The fill-in form formatting is not always consistent among forms.
• Responsiveness: There is no feedback on the progress of system processing, and the system is often slow due to lack of processing power.

The second part of this evaluation considered the operators' working environment. A checklist was developed to identify operator environment characteristics which may help or hinder the TIC operators' job performance. These were:

• Illumination, noise levels, and climate control (e.g., heat, air conditioning, air quality)
• Visual display elements of the computer screen
• Keyboard characteristics
• Furniture
• Work surface
• Seating
• Accessories

The study found that only three changes would lead to a more productive work environment. These were: thermal and air quality, general layout of work surface, and cubicle height or sense of connectedness with other operators. All other characteristics were found to be generally acceptable to the operators.

Findings

TravInfo is a field operational test (FOT) of advanced traveler information systems (ATIS) for the San Francisco Bay Area. The project seeks to compile, integrate, and broadly distribute timely and accurate multi-modal traveler information through commercial products and services. The public sector component centers on the Traveler Information Center (TIC), which collects and integrates both static and dynamic traveler information.

This study examines the technology component of the TravInfo project, and more specifically, the role of the operator in the flow of information through the TIC, the operators' tasks and responsibilities and the operators' physical environment.

This report focuses on the physical environment of the TIC operations including the TIC computer interface and the physical surroundings of the operators' workstation environment. The work was accomplished by analyzing the TIC operator interface design and by surveying operators. This study builds on work reported in UCB-ITS-PWP-98-7.