Participative design strategies to minimise design-induced errors in new technologies for rail control rooms

The introduction of new technologies into Control Rooms can lead to design induced errors, some of which are described in this paper. It is widely accepted that errors can be reduced or even removed completely when the end-users of new technologies participate in the systems development life cycle process. This paper discribes a modified model of the systems development life cycle and investigates how end-user participation can result in benefits that can be measured in terms of user satisfaction as well as allowing the new technology to be delivered on time and within budget. Preliminary results from a new national database of rail safety incidents will be investigated and details of a survey of rail safety stakeholders revealed.