what-when-how
In Depth Tutorials and Information
Reading and
Understanding
Directions
Common Problems
Identified by TRB
Report
Accessing the
Correct
Vehicles
Understanding
Announcements
Exiting at the
Correct Stop
Figure 14.2
Transportation shortfalls. (From Stefan Carmien et al. Socio-
technicalenvironmentssupportingpeoplewithcognitivedisabilitiesusingpublic
transportation.
ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI).
Vol.12,No.2.pp.233-262,June2005.)
he design methodology clarifies the obstacles that stand in the way of the men-
tally handicapped. Pilot studies were performed to observe how these disabled indi-
viduals learned and how they used the transit systems. Beginning at the “How hings
Are” box, the system continues to rotate through the four stages, creating a better
system each time it reaches the “Sociotechnical Solutions” block (Figure 14.3).
he pilot studies were conducted in six cities: Denver, Milwaukee, Chicago,
Washington, D.C., Tokyo, and Vail, Colorado. he studies focused on how the
cognitively handicapped individuals used bus, light rail, subway, and transportation
information technologies. hey have summarized the needs for making public trans-
portation systems easier for people with disabilities [2]: (1) Reduce the complexities
of the current systems with the powerful role of technology as a social medium for
socialization, independence, and self-worth. (2) Support both users with cognitive
disabilities and their support communities. (3) Exploit the emergence of ubiquitous,
location-aware, mobile technologies to deliver personalized information tailored to
individual needs and abilities.
hey also concentrated on the problems that could be addressed by sociotechni-
cal systems. By completing this study, certain “navigation artifacts” were observed,
which are shown in Table 14.1. hese pilot studies also determined that there are
two main classes for public transportation travelers: (1) those who routinely, and
(2) those who occasionally, travel by the transit system. he less frequent travelers
were considered to engage in higher cognitive actions because of the extra planning
