2020
Designing for Visually Impaired Users
RailPoint x LNER
Helping visually impaired users plan they're journey's independently.
Team
Me - Digital/UX Designer
2 Front End Devs
Creative Studio Manager
LNER Representative
RNIB Representative
Tools used
Sketch
Project status
Launched
The Problem
LNER’s interactive passenger help points are in need of accessibilty options
Image: Existing LNER passenger information help point from RailPoint. (Non accessible)
THE GOAL
How do we create an easy to use experience for users with either a visual impairment or disability?
Research
What do users understand about their bra size and fit today?
Confusion about information
Getting information across effectivley and creating the same level of experience that a non-visually impaired user would have.
Often users won’t be aware of any accessiblity settings at an interactive information point.
Users don’t often check if there’s a accessible settings
How do users feel about accessible design today?
What measures or guidlines are in place to validate a design as something suitable for visually impaired individuals.
Visually impaired users often rely on the help of a member of staff or a friend/relative to help them.
Independence
Proposed Solution...
Create an accessibile user interface
Introduce a new user interface that can be accessed anywhere on the site. Streamlined so that it can be completed in less than the current 3 minutes to fill out. All whilst optimising for fast site speed/load times.Introduce a new user interface that can be accessed at the tap of a button from the existing experience. Therefore allowing a user with a disability to easily plan journey’s and book train tickets independently.
Image: LNER x RailPoint HD digital departure boards.
Design Principles
We need to ensure that education is done in a timely and effective manner. Users should have clear expectations around how things work.
Educate at the right moment
Build confidence by showing the value and power of the service. Giving the user the power to be independent.
Empowering the user
Provide guidance for the process. Opportunities include guidance via simplified questions, help and retain an option for human assistance.
Provide guidance
Optimize the experience for easy understanding of complex ideas rather than blindly following accessible digital guidelines.
Keep it simple
Every user varies and have different needs and knowledge. Allow for flexibility to accommodate for diverse needs of users.
Give flexibilty
Be fair and advocate for our users. Listen to views and concerns. Gather information to help make informed decisions.
Be an advocate
Journey Map
Initial Storyboard
First High Fidelity Prototype.
User Testing
“Far too confusing. Too much information on screen at once. Not enough contrast between the upper section to the interactive lower setion. I just don’t know what I am looking at”.
Information overload
“I am required to manually type in key information too often. Too complicated and time consuming”.
More preselected options
“It looks like a darker version of the original. Not enough contrast between the colours. How would I know these help points have these features?”
Too similar to the original
Final Design
Journey Map
Design Handoff
The new experience was launched in only a couple of stations up North, such as York, to monitor its performance.
We did this so that we could monitor its success in more digestable chunks.
We also catered for foreign languages with our initial launch!
Business Impact
LNER continued to roll out these accessible features on their help point around the north of the country, and by the end of the year, these features could be found at stations in and around London.
We continued to iterate and test after the experience went live. LNER gave us weekly updates to how it was performing on-site within the stations.
Kadfire was used to freshen up the existing (non-accessible) help points after such a positive impact.
© 2023 Stefan Adams
I create better experiences for people.