Viva La TecholutionThe Power is With the People

Marc O. WoodsEnd-User Engagement & Experience

Delivery Consultant

Empowerment of the impacted is the key to successful user engagement resulting in more likely

acceptance of management’s desired outcome

Granny’s Working Premise

Copyright to Granny Watson

Transport for London Subject Organization & Programme

Fit for the Future Stations Going Mobile

A simultaneous Operational and Cultural Change programme

Hardware and Software deployment initiative to enable staff to perform operational tasks away from a desk

Biggest Change to TFL for __ years

Designed to define the organization’s shape to take it further into the 21st Century

Highly Contentious with the unions and staff

Key Message from Management

Engage affected staff in all the changes being made.

The active involvement of users for a clear understanding of user and task requirements

Ji-Ye Mao, Karel Vredenburg, Paul W. Smith, and Tom Carey

User-Centered Design

Resistant to Change Strong Union Presence

Traditionally End-User Excluding

Organizational Reality

Actively collaborate with the End-Users to define what is going to be useful to them

This inclusive approach should yield solutions which would be easy for the target audience to use

SolutionA Fresh Approach

Technology Advocate ProgrammeSolution

The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is an information systems theory that models how users come to accept and use a technology. The model suggests that when users are presented with a new technology, a number of factors influence their decision about how and when they will use it, notably:

• Perceived usefulness can be defined as the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job performance

• Perceived ease-of-use the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would be free from effort

Supporting Theory

The Live Environment

• 24hr Shift-working End-Users vs. “9 to 5” development teams

• Staffing levels on the stations are a set number by legal requirement

• 270 Disparate location of End-Users vs. much fewer fixed locations of development teams

The Dilemma

A wide cross-section of the representative user base needed. This includes variants in:1. Age2. Length of service3. Affected Roles

A large number (5% of total user community) also needed.

Design Response

NB: This was all to be voluntary. Presented as an opportunity to influence the technology and “accessories” that would be deployed and impact their roles

• Varying levels of tech savvy acceptable

• Only requirement is interest in being part of the shaping of technology to affect them

• Everyone’s opinion matters no grade

• Empathy for less-enthused colleagues stressed

Guiding Principles

Involve lowest grades staff first

Get the support from the senior management team

Gaining Initiative Support Development

• Able to build rapport rapidly• Establish Credibility• Excellent Communicator• Has genuine empathy

The Change Agent

• 100 volunteers in first 3 days - 220 in total• Model case for use of Yammer as a staff

communication and collaboration tool• 3 viable apps suggested by advocates in first 6

months of program’s existence– One currently in discovery

• Wider organization keen to adopt similar approach to meet their technology engagement needs

The Result

Viva La Techolution

The Power is With the People