Work | MOBILE APPS

A better way to track
faults for Sydney Trains

Sydney Trains

Fault logging with better usability and data quality

Experience Design
Proof of Concept

iOS Mobile Development
SAP Systems Integration

Keeping things on track across a complex network

Sydney Trains is the operator of the suburban passenger rail network serving the city of Sydney. The network is managed by Transport for NSW, and is part of its Opal ticketing system. In 2018–19, 377.1 million passenger journeys were made on the network.

Bilue was engaged by the NSW Government to deliver a Proof of Concept (POC) app in order to explore how taking a human-centred design approach to their SAP platform could breath new life into the way in which mobile was being considered within their fault logging app.

Bilue helped Sydney Trains explore a design-led approach to their digital platforms

Strategy & Approach

Transport for NSW has invested a huge amount of money in their SAP platforms. They even went so far as to build a number of mobile applications to help unlock the value out in the field. But by and large these apps weren’t used as they were poorly designed and cumbersome to navigate.

Sydney Trains wanted the solution to be a consumer-like experience that everyone can use. The app should also have offline capabilities. The business goal is to improve information collection, data quality and increase adoption.

Working in partnership with Sydney Trains, Bilue examined the process for fault logging on the network, spending time with Sydney Trains staff members to analyse usage of their current fault logging app, then taking those learnings and redesigning the mobile experience from the ground up through the lens of the user.

Solving for the user’s needs

During the XD phase of the POC, the Bilue project team along with nominated TfNSW stakeholder engaged in multiple workshops to define the MVP for the project . Additionally, user testing & research exercise was conducted with 5 different users from nominated user groups.

Key requirements & business goals for the project were identified as a result, including increasing user adoption by improving the overall user experience, improving information collection & quality, simplifying authentication and more.

Building on what works for a better experience

Previously, the system required the user logging faults to add each piece of data by hand. By spending the time to fully understand the current constraints and abilities of the existing system, Bilue was better able to design an experience that required significantly less manual input by employing existing features of the system.

As an example, a new function called Quick Fault was added. This function lets the user create a new fault by scanning the alreadying existing QR code in a given location. A number of pieces of data, previously requiring manual input, are then logged, significantly reducing manual entry.

The all-new fault logging app reduces taps by 70%, while increasing data quality

SAP + iOS: a partnership that delivers

Leveraging the power of the SAP Business Technology Platform to integrate with SAP ERP in combination with the latest design and usability features provided by iOS 15, Bilue designed and built a native iOS app that is fast and efficient to use.

Improved usability, higher quality data; a model for the future

Sydney Trains took the new and improved Fault Logging app for iOS and ran a pilot across the network to garner feedback.The POC has been deemed a success targeting benefits such as improved usability of the app leading to higher levels of data quality.The Fault Logging App is now in the process of being rolled out across the Sydney Trains network.