Using Design to Drive Innovation
In episode 7 of our "Driving Place-Based Innovation" podcast series, in partnership with the NewcastleGateshead Initiative, we discuss how to use design to drive innovation.
In episode 7 of our "Driving Place-Based Innovation" podcast series, in partnership with the NewcastleGateshead Initiative, we discuss how to use design to drive innovation.
In episode 7 of our "Driving Place-Based Innovation" podcast series, in partnership with the NewcastleGateshead Initiative, we discuss how to use design to drive innovation. Nexus explains how they plan their investments and consultation process to improve customer experiences. Visit Skåne shares how to use design processes to combat societal and environmental challenges and initiate behaviour change to become a more sustainable and thriving destination for both locals and visitors.
You can listen to the episode here 👇
Nexus is the public body that operates the Tyne and Wear metro system, which is the UK's biggest and busiest urban transport system outside of London. Nexus aims to drive excellence in the delivery of customer experiences across the metro, the Shields Ferry link and on local bus services. They are in charge of setting the ticket prices as well as monitoring the performance of services and traveller satisfaction to ensure that passengers are the focus of the day-to-day delivery and for investment in major capital projects to develop the future of public transport.
Nexus is investing £500 million over the next five years in the future of the region's public transport network, especially the Tyne and Wear metro system. Over two-thirds of this budget has been allocated to the introduction of a new train fleet. The metro opened in August 1980 as the first modern light railway system in the UK and still has the same trains. These trains are at the end of their lives and Nexus has been raising funds for the past seven years to design a new train fleet for the Tyne and Weir metro.
When introducing new train fleets, many railway systems can buy a train that has a core design provided by one of the major manufacturers, with only a small number of modifications around the colour scheme, internal layout and overall delivery. However, the Tyne and Wear metro requires trains to be specially built for Nexus due to their unique operating characteristics. This means that it has taken longer to introduce new trains, which passengers are desperate to see in order to transform their journey experience and improve reliability.
While developing a new train takes longer, it gives more influence over the design than would be the case for most other railway networks. This gives the ability to start the design process from the beginning and consider what customers want their trains to look like and the facilities to include. However, this control over the design also makes it imperative to get the final version correct at the first time of asking since these trains can't be sold off to another operator if they do not meet the needs of Nexus' passengers.
With the company being reliant on these trains for the next four decades, it's important to be future-oriented when planning and deciding what they should look like. During the consultation process, it was important to communicate to customers that they should also consider their future use of the metro network, not just their current one. For instance, students or young professionals living in the inner city and only using the Tyne and Wear metro for short journeys should consider their preferences for when they move into the suburbs as they get older and have longer journeys in the future, or how to accommodate buggies for when they have children, or bikes if they want a more active lifestyle. It's also crucial to consider that people may have mobility issues later in life and the need to think about wheelchair accessibility or creating space for people who are unsteady on their feet. All of these different things need to be accommodated in the same train carriage. Some of the people involved in the design process will go through all of these different life stages within the lifetime of the new train fleet.
Nexus wanted to involve its customers as much as possible from the start. Everybody is competing in some way for a train that meets their needs. Thinking about what young professionals might want and how their lives will change over the next few decades helps to consider the needs of everyone that will use the train network.
Digital civics experts at Newcastle University's Open Lab team participated in the design process and brought their knowledge and experience in using a range of different digital and traditional consultation techniques. This enabled Nexus to speak with its customers in a more structured, considered and meaningful way. As a result, the public consultation went far beyond the typical approach to consultations of just asking customers to fill out a questionnaire and using an expert in market research to analyse the results. Instead, this methodology enabled the consultation to deep-dive into what people thought they wanted and their perceptions of using the space to help draw conclusions that gave a user-centric focus to the design of the trains.
When considering the design around meeting the needs of all passengers, it is essential to consider those with disabilities. Nexus believes that to design a train that meets the needs of disabled users, you need to design a better train for everybody. There is a need to consider the wide range of different disabilities, whether that be a wheelchair user or someone with visual impairments. People who have issues with their soft tissues are impacted by how deep the seat cushion is and a very deep plumpy cushion makes it hard to get out of the seat. If customers have weak arms, it influences whether to put hand rests near the seats that somebody can push down on to get out of the seat. To answers these questions, there needs to be a high degree of understanding for customers' lived experiences.
In terms of market research, it's possible to go to conferences and pick out a couple of pieces of information that change your life. However, a lot of market research asks people questions out of context when they're not focused on what they are being asked, resulting in a degree of randomness or ill-informed responses.
The partnership with Open Lab helped visualise the experience of riding the train, even when the local community were unable to physically see the train. Virtual reality, fly-throughs and webinars where different customers could talk to each other about their contrasting needs were some of the techniques used. This made people think more carefully about what they would like to see in the final design of the train, which ended up in the design specifications sent to the manufacturer. Following this, came an intense process of drafting, refining and finalising the design of the train. The new Tyne and Wear metro system train fleet is truly a train shaped by customers, and the process was unlike anything previously done in the UK rail industry.
Across both waves of consultation, 26,000 responses were received to the design questions raised about what people want from trains. These responses ranged from somebody participating in a Twitter poll to someone who has taken part in a webinar with other customers. In particular, a partial mockup was built to test the layout of the train and the ease of boarding and disembarking for disabled customers and how guide dogs would lead their owner around the train safely. These different interactions with customers meant that a large proportion of Nexus' users had a say in the design of the train and could communicate their perspectives and be involved with the development of the transport network they rely on.
Nexus hope that lots of people remember being involved in designing the train and recognise the lengths that the organisation went to get input from the local community. Ultimately, it's not a question of getting good PR, but about designing a train that meets people's needs and is recognised as achieving their expectations and desires and possibly even going beyond what customers thought they desired. Meeting the local community's desires is important for Nexus, as a public body funded by the local authorities and thereby the local taxpayers in Tyne and Wear. Therefore, there is a need to be accountable and responsible for meeting the needs of local people.
Nexus has demonstrated that it is possible to start the approach to designing major infrastructure projects with the public as partners. The public will be using the infrastructural assets for years and so need to be involved in the process to ensure a return on investment. Experts should also be involved in the process to provide the appropriate knowledge base and skillset into the process. The train manufacturer - Stadler - builds lots of trains for different cities across the world, providing valuable expertise. But taking the time to work with customers and asking about the aspirations of these end users brings added value to the design process. Community input can be successfully built into projects and doesn't need to add cost while also improving the outcome in terms of performance.
The trains had to be custom-built for Nexus because of the technical aspects of the Tyne and Wear metro system. The height, axle weight and length of the carriage were predetermined to get around some of the bends on the metro system. While the metro system opened in 1980, some of the rail infrastructure dates back to the 1830s, with tight corners and low tunnels. The outside of the carriage needed to be a specific shape, which meant that Nexus identified that they can have a bigger influence over designing the interior of the carriage because the train manufacturer needs to start from the beginning of the design process. This means Nexus saw the opportunity to put the customer at the centre of the design as it wasn't possible to get an off-the-shelf solution.
Involving the public in its projects and service delivery is ingrained in Nexus' ethos and culture as a public body. The new train fleet for the Tyne and Wear metro is the biggest project that Nexus has been involved in and there was the opportunity to do so in a way that had never been done before. Seven years on, with the trains coming into service at the end of this year, it's essential to reflect on how customers respond to the new trains.
One of the fundamental elements to consider is seat configuration. Around two-thirds of people want the seats to be against the walls to give the maximum amount of space to move around the train, in a similar design to the London underground. This approach makes sense for people travelling during rush hour when the trains are busy and space is considered at a premium, with people desiring to not feel crowded. The other third of customers want as many seats as possible because they make longer journeys from the suburbs or travel during off-peak times and want to maximise their comfort. Consequently, early in the consultation process, Nexus decided to have a longitudinal seat design to maximise the amount of space.
Working with Newcastle University's Open Lab meant that Nexus saved a large volume of money than if they had used the conventional train design process, which involves building a full-size mockup of the train and putting it in a public space so people can walk around and explore it. The COVID pandemic meant that such a public display of the train was not a viable option, so Open Lab and Stadler created a VR-based experience that people could participate online. Through this approach, Nexus saved £200,000 and got a much more meaningful and immersive consultation experience through this online approach.
When Nexus presented Stadler with the first draft of the design, customers asked if it was possible to add additional seats. Having saved money through the online consultation, extra budget was made available to add more seats. Stadler created a plan to add 12 more tip-up seats per train, in what will be the bike and children's buggy storage area. Having saved money by designing a better and more immersive online consultation, it was possible to spend this money on responding to one of the biggest findings of that consultation and giving customers what they want from the new trains.
With the existing train fleet at the end of its lifespan, it is a struggle to maintain the current service. These new trains are therefore essential for serving the Tyne and Wear metro's customers. The first new train was delivered to North East England in February 2023, with the expectation that they will enter into service at the end of the year after they have been tested on the route. A fast rollout will follow during 2024, with a new train entering into service every couple of weeks. This is one of the longest projects that Nexus has implemented with a seven-year process to win funding, fulfil global procurement exercises, finalise the design with the manufacturer and customers and then begin the actual construction process. The continual engagement with customers in the process was rewarding and helped to focus the project and ensure the trains will meet real customer needs.
Visit Skåne is the regional Destination Management Organisation (DMO) for the province of Skåne in southern Sweden, with the ambition to strengthen Skåne's brand internationally and promote the visitor economy and events. Visit Skåne's vision for tourism in 2030 and beyond is for the destination to be a place where tourism and events matter. This entails Skåne being a destination where visitors are not perceived negatively within the destination - either from a social or environmental perspective - and for the region to thrive in the footsteps of visitors.
The DMO believes that tourism is sometimes misconceived as only having positive economic impacts in terms of profits for businesses or job creation during peak seasons and want to move beyond this perception with their organisation's activities to see how the visitor economy can be a positive force for solving complex societal challenges. Innovation is a tool and a method for approaching these very complicated challenges, such as biodiversity and other environmental issues, which can simultaneously be addressed and analysed from both a global and local perspective.
Visit Skåne has an innovation strategy to ensure that its process is well-defined before starting the work and understanding if projects are relevant to the organisation. This involves recognising whether the conditions are right for launching a new initiative and whether staff are sufficiently skilled for the work to be undertaken. Therefore, a checklist helps with project planning, even before the official launch of a project.
Visit Skåne have a designated in-house UX designer, which is quite a unique job position within the industry and people are intrigued and excited to learn how UX design is combined with tourism and used by a DMO. However, many people in the industry already have the mindset of involving different stakeholders within projects and trying to jointly solve the challenges faced by the industry, and society in general. Having a service design expert in-house brings a systematic approach to the design process. Nevertheless, everyone is capable of creating good solutions, even if they don't have a design background.
Visit Skåne started using innovation as a tool two years ago and still sees it as a relatively new element of their work. They enter projects with an open perspective and an understanding that initiatives could fail, but realise the significance of experimentation to facilitate change and monitor performance. At the start of projects, the organisation ensures they have the appropriate capacity and skillset within their team before identifying what outputs can be created.
Projects can sometimes have a very concrete end result, while others have more inspirational outcomes or are about making strong connections. Having different types of outputs can be beneficial and the organisation even starts the design process in different ways. Nevertheless, projects typically begin with a pre-study or a stakeholder mapping session. When analysing the potential involvement of different actors, Visit Skåne includes other DMOs and industry representatives and also tries to obtain input from external perspectives to consider governmental input, the views of local organisations and also citizens with strong opinions that would like to be involved in the process because they are impacted by the different approaches and activities being implemented. Thereby, Visit Skåne want to ensure everyone has a voice and can contribute to the process. Starting with human-centred design is key to creating the right project set-up, with the best team and the ability to listen to different opinions and stakeholders' views about how the innovation process should progress.
Having been involved in the process many times across different projects, there is a general assumption that the start of the process is not always going to be smooth as multiple stakeholders with differing visions and missions will attempt to work together and create shared objectives through discussing operational aspects and ideate concrete solutions for tackling societal challenges. Secondly, time is a precious resource as everyone is busy, reducing the available time to discuss the different options and the various advantages and disadvantages of different approaches and their expected impacts. Nevertheless, these stakeholder consultations are a fun and rewarding process to engage in, but can also sometimes result in an uncomfortable environment. There is a need to understand that it is normal to feel uncomfortable in the early stages of stakeholder consultations and to become comfortable with being in such situations because it's not possible to know the best direction for the project in advance, or if the discussion outcome can actually be implemented and if potential financiers will support it. There are lots of things that need to be taken into consideration and it's not always possible to predict the outcome, so it's important to trust in the process and continue moving forward.
There's a need to change expectations about accountability and this has been discussed at a strategic level within Visit Skåne and also with other regions and DMOs. There is a need to properly consider the set-up of projects, their structure and the processes involved from the start. However, if projects begin with prescriptive goals, then innovation is already killed during the drafting of new initiatives. Therefore, there needs to be a shift in mindset to recognise and accept that the process should begin with an undetermined project outcome.
It can be easy to jump right into launching a project and deciding upon the desired deliverables. However, this doesn't always take into account the underlying factors at the heart of the different challenges that you are trying to solve. Taking the time to explore the issues more deeply, creates the opportunity to develop deliverables that are even better than premeditated proposals. Therefore, it's important to have dialogues with stakeholders and encourage them to enable further exploration and discussion to avoid rushing into a decision before obtaining all of the evidence. For example, one of Visit Skåne's current projects has been mentally divided into three separate deliverables. The first deliverable focuses on the concrete outputs that were promised, but then Visit Skåne also want to go further as an organisation and get people to physically test these initiatives in real-life scenarios and prove whether the solutions work. Following this, it becomes possible to use these new insights to ideate further and start exploring new initiatives and support continuous innovation. If you only stick to the initial ideas and deliverables, then organisations are unaware of the full innovative potential that can be generated.
Visit Skåne initiated Project Footprint and as the leaders of the initiative they were able to fully explore the opportunities available, their potential for solving environmental challenges and create the desired output of facilitating behavioural change and a respect for environmental stewardship among visitors. With no promises made to other organisations or a need for regular reporting to stakeholders, it was possible to fully explore the design process. Visit Skåne invited a range of stakeholders from different backgrounds to be part of the process, which opened the pool of qualified individuals with different competencies that could participate and ideate together, including an architect, an urban planner, behavioural science experts, county board administrators and even a Nepalese guide. Visit Skåne was also able to launch an open call for proposals in English, when typically calls for proposals would only be written in Swedish. This innovation has sparked lots of interest from other organisations who now want to collaborate with Visit Skåne and replicate similar activities within their locality, proving that human-centred design creates strong results when you see the process through to the end.
People tend to think about innovation as being a new invention or technological development that improves efficiency and reduces costs. However, innovation is more open-ended and can also be about developing new working methods to approach a challenge or new business or cooperation models. For example, Visit Skåne were able to use the innovation process for Project Footprint to develop a relationship with the county board administrators and now have a strong relationship with them and closely collaborate on a variety of projects. When new challenges emerge, Visit Skåne have a partner that they can turn to for support and assistance.
Visit Skåne stopped using the term 'innovation process' in its current project Crisitivity and now uses the term 'new thinkers process' because industry representatives, such as hoteliers and restauranters, feel intimidated by the word innovation. There was the perception that innovation was about completely changing operational procedures, which excluded some people from being willing to get involved. With the new thinkers process, operators feel more comfortable about getting on-board and are open to thinking in different ways, overcoming their previous hesitancy.
Previously, destinations were most concerned about monitoring arrivals and guest nights in accommodation establishments as the Key Performance Indicators of a successful tourism season. Now, destinations are starting to view tourism performance from different perspectives and developing clear visions of how destinations can benefit both locals and visitors.
It's important to disregard past assumptions and beliefs about the industry and adapt strategies towards the current situational realities. This systemic shift will help destinations focus on the societal and environmental challenges they face and drive positive change. Being a public body, Visit Skåne feels a strong sense of responsibility and accountability to contribute to this process and play a leading role in transforming the destination.
Tackling societal challenges requires the industry to be an enabler of innovation processes. While tourism companies might not have the incentive or resources to initiate this change in mindset, Visit Skåne sees the potential for providing assistance through a new project looking into the different barriers to innovation and how businesses can be encouraged to change their mindsets and incorporate more sustainable approaches. To succeed in this ambition, organisations will need to be open to change and willing to go beyond their immediate mission and operational activities.
It is important to note that some organisations with multi-purpose goals may struggle with adapting their approaches to reflect new overarching ambitions for creating better destinations. For example, municipalities need to juggle multiple priorities, such as running schools and maintaining transport infrastructure, which means they have less time and resources able to dedicate to tourism and sustainability initiatives as they first need to ensure the day-to-day management of core infrastructure due to their societal importance. Sometimes when an organisation has lots of different activities and responsibilities, it becomes really easy to only focus on the problems.
With a clear mandate for tourism and events, Visit Skåne is the enabler that sparks change and brings all stakeholders together in a focused way to create a more sustainable Skåne for residents and visitors alike. Visit Skåne's industry-centred approach enables them to analyse and assess the full picture, enabling the identification of stakeholders that can play a role in creating solutions and initiating conversations that kickstart collaboration.
It's important to meet different people and make connections with representatives from municipalities and also discuss with landowners how visitors use their land. The more stakeholders that you have conversations with, the greater the insights gained and the ability to draw connections between different aspects and find new opportunities for sustainable destination development.
Despite Visit Skåne's New Thinkers Workshop and Crisitivity project having different target groups - event arrangers and hotel owners respectively - they identified the same problems and frustrations. Observing these identical challenges across different sectors of the tourism industry meant it was possible to learn more about the different people and systems involved within the industry and try to find a bridge between these elements of the tourism ecosystem and aim to identify opportunities for new developing solutions to shared challenges.
From a strategic innovation standpoint within Visit Skåne, the process of starting one project typically spawns two or three new ones. With lots of ongoing projects, Visit Skåne are continually learning and expanding its knowledge base as well as identifying new partners for cooperation that want to be involved in purposeful destination development activities. The organisation is continuing to innovate and keep moving its various initiatives forward. Visit Skåne also aspire to fully move through the design thinking process to test and implement solutions that solve the most pressing issues faced by the destination.
The human-centred approach underpins innovation. Written reports and strategies don't necessarily mean that people will follow these approaches. It is important to understand human behaviour and identify their real needs and reasons for acting in a certain manner. From these insights, it then becomes clearer as to what approaches and solutions are most likely to result in the desired behaviour change and solve the different societal or environmental challenges encountered within the destination.
Design is a future-oriented process that enhances the ability of destinations and businesses to thrive and remain resilient. Design thinking can improve customer experiences, develop solutions to societal and environmental challenges and encourage behaviour change. Market research is fundamental to the process and different consultative methods should be used to maximise input during the process. Involving knowledgeable experts is also essential to ensure that plans are viable and efficient in terms of meeting their stated objectives.
Projects should consider the public as partners in the design process. Community input can be successfully built into projects and adds value by facilitating stronger performance. Good project design results in a more immersive consultation process and saves money that can be spent on optimising project implementation. Having an open mindset and being willing to experiment by not relying on a prescriptive approach gives space for the complete exploration and research of the wider picture to identify underlying causes of issues. This results in the ability to make connections between different issues and develop stronger outputs. It is important to trust in the design process, even when conflicts arise.
There is a need for project coordinators to be accountable and responsible throughout the process and customise solutions to put the customer first through human-centred design processes. Innovation is a tool to drive change and shifts in mindsets. There is a need to disregard past assumptions and understand the current realities. A systematic approach can help to focus the process and ensure transparency. An initial step for launching projects is to ensure organisations have the right capacity and skills to achieve the desired outcome.
Communication is a key skill to bring all stakeholders together and to alleviate the conflicts created by the contrasting needs and opinions of different groups. Prototyping ideas and testing them in the market is crucial to ensure that the solutions will be successful in reality and help to ideate further and develop new innovative projects.
The podcast is part of the Hospitality Innovation Tourism Supply (HITS) programme which provides targeted support, learning resources and grant funding to businesses in Northumberland, Newcastle and North Tyneside to help make their ideas a reality. The programme is funded by North of Tyne Combined Authority and delivered by NewcastleGateshead Initiative, Food and Drink North East and NBSL.
In episode 7 of our "Driving Place-Based Innovation" podcast series, in partnership with the NewcastleGateshead Initiative, we discuss how to use design to drive innovation. Nexus explains how they plan their investments and consultation process to improve customer experiences. Visit Skåne shares how to use design processes to combat societal and environmental challenges and initiate behaviour change to become a more sustainable and thriving destination for both locals and visitors.
You can listen to the episode here 👇
Nexus is the public body that operates the Tyne and Wear metro system, which is the UK's biggest and busiest urban transport system outside of London. Nexus aims to drive excellence in the delivery of customer experiences across the metro, the Shields Ferry link and on local bus services. They are in charge of setting the ticket prices as well as monitoring the performance of services and traveller satisfaction to ensure that passengers are the focus of the day-to-day delivery and for investment in major capital projects to develop the future of public transport.
Nexus is investing £500 million over the next five years in the future of the region's public transport network, especially the Tyne and Wear metro system. Over two-thirds of this budget has been allocated to the introduction of a new train fleet. The metro opened in August 1980 as the first modern light railway system in the UK and still has the same trains. These trains are at the end of their lives and Nexus has been raising funds for the past seven years to design a new train fleet for the Tyne and Weir metro.
When introducing new train fleets, many railway systems can buy a train that has a core design provided by one of the major manufacturers, with only a small number of modifications around the colour scheme, internal layout and overall delivery. However, the Tyne and Wear metro requires trains to be specially built for Nexus due to their unique operating characteristics. This means that it has taken longer to introduce new trains, which passengers are desperate to see in order to transform their journey experience and improve reliability.
While developing a new train takes longer, it gives more influence over the design than would be the case for most other railway networks. This gives the ability to start the design process from the beginning and consider what customers want their trains to look like and the facilities to include. However, this control over the design also makes it imperative to get the final version correct at the first time of asking since these trains can't be sold off to another operator if they do not meet the needs of Nexus' passengers.
With the company being reliant on these trains for the next four decades, it's important to be future-oriented when planning and deciding what they should look like. During the consultation process, it was important to communicate to customers that they should also consider their future use of the metro network, not just their current one. For instance, students or young professionals living in the inner city and only using the Tyne and Wear metro for short journeys should consider their preferences for when they move into the suburbs as they get older and have longer journeys in the future, or how to accommodate buggies for when they have children, or bikes if they want a more active lifestyle. It's also crucial to consider that people may have mobility issues later in life and the need to think about wheelchair accessibility or creating space for people who are unsteady on their feet. All of these different things need to be accommodated in the same train carriage. Some of the people involved in the design process will go through all of these different life stages within the lifetime of the new train fleet.
Nexus wanted to involve its customers as much as possible from the start. Everybody is competing in some way for a train that meets their needs. Thinking about what young professionals might want and how their lives will change over the next few decades helps to consider the needs of everyone that will use the train network.
Digital civics experts at Newcastle University's Open Lab team participated in the design process and brought their knowledge and experience in using a range of different digital and traditional consultation techniques. This enabled Nexus to speak with its customers in a more structured, considered and meaningful way. As a result, the public consultation went far beyond the typical approach to consultations of just asking customers to fill out a questionnaire and using an expert in market research to analyse the results. Instead, this methodology enabled the consultation to deep-dive into what people thought they wanted and their perceptions of using the space to help draw conclusions that gave a user-centric focus to the design of the trains.
When considering the design around meeting the needs of all passengers, it is essential to consider those with disabilities. Nexus believes that to design a train that meets the needs of disabled users, you need to design a better train for everybody. There is a need to consider the wide range of different disabilities, whether that be a wheelchair user or someone with visual impairments. People who have issues with their soft tissues are impacted by how deep the seat cushion is and a very deep plumpy cushion makes it hard to get out of the seat. If customers have weak arms, it influences whether to put hand rests near the seats that somebody can push down on to get out of the seat. To answers these questions, there needs to be a high degree of understanding for customers' lived experiences.
In terms of market research, it's possible to go to conferences and pick out a couple of pieces of information that change your life. However, a lot of market research asks people questions out of context when they're not focused on what they are being asked, resulting in a degree of randomness or ill-informed responses.
The partnership with Open Lab helped visualise the experience of riding the train, even when the local community were unable to physically see the train. Virtual reality, fly-throughs and webinars where different customers could talk to each other about their contrasting needs were some of the techniques used. This made people think more carefully about what they would like to see in the final design of the train, which ended up in the design specifications sent to the manufacturer. Following this, came an intense process of drafting, refining and finalising the design of the train. The new Tyne and Wear metro system train fleet is truly a train shaped by customers, and the process was unlike anything previously done in the UK rail industry.
Across both waves of consultation, 26,000 responses were received to the design questions raised about what people want from trains. These responses ranged from somebody participating in a Twitter poll to someone who has taken part in a webinar with other customers. In particular, a partial mockup was built to test the layout of the train and the ease of boarding and disembarking for disabled customers and how guide dogs would lead their owner around the train safely. These different interactions with customers meant that a large proportion of Nexus' users had a say in the design of the train and could communicate their perspectives and be involved with the development of the transport network they rely on.
Nexus hope that lots of people remember being involved in designing the train and recognise the lengths that the organisation went to get input from the local community. Ultimately, it's not a question of getting good PR, but about designing a train that meets people's needs and is recognised as achieving their expectations and desires and possibly even going beyond what customers thought they desired. Meeting the local community's desires is important for Nexus, as a public body funded by the local authorities and thereby the local taxpayers in Tyne and Wear. Therefore, there is a need to be accountable and responsible for meeting the needs of local people.
Nexus has demonstrated that it is possible to start the approach to designing major infrastructure projects with the public as partners. The public will be using the infrastructural assets for years and so need to be involved in the process to ensure a return on investment. Experts should also be involved in the process to provide the appropriate knowledge base and skillset into the process. The train manufacturer - Stadler - builds lots of trains for different cities across the world, providing valuable expertise. But taking the time to work with customers and asking about the aspirations of these end users brings added value to the design process. Community input can be successfully built into projects and doesn't need to add cost while also improving the outcome in terms of performance.
The trains had to be custom-built for Nexus because of the technical aspects of the Tyne and Wear metro system. The height, axle weight and length of the carriage were predetermined to get around some of the bends on the metro system. While the metro system opened in 1980, some of the rail infrastructure dates back to the 1830s, with tight corners and low tunnels. The outside of the carriage needed to be a specific shape, which meant that Nexus identified that they can have a bigger influence over designing the interior of the carriage because the train manufacturer needs to start from the beginning of the design process. This means Nexus saw the opportunity to put the customer at the centre of the design as it wasn't possible to get an off-the-shelf solution.
Involving the public in its projects and service delivery is ingrained in Nexus' ethos and culture as a public body. The new train fleet for the Tyne and Wear metro is the biggest project that Nexus has been involved in and there was the opportunity to do so in a way that had never been done before. Seven years on, with the trains coming into service at the end of this year, it's essential to reflect on how customers respond to the new trains.
One of the fundamental elements to consider is seat configuration. Around two-thirds of people want the seats to be against the walls to give the maximum amount of space to move around the train, in a similar design to the London underground. This approach makes sense for people travelling during rush hour when the trains are busy and space is considered at a premium, with people desiring to not feel crowded. The other third of customers want as many seats as possible because they make longer journeys from the suburbs or travel during off-peak times and want to maximise their comfort. Consequently, early in the consultation process, Nexus decided to have a longitudinal seat design to maximise the amount of space.
Working with Newcastle University's Open Lab meant that Nexus saved a large volume of money than if they had used the conventional train design process, which involves building a full-size mockup of the train and putting it in a public space so people can walk around and explore it. The COVID pandemic meant that such a public display of the train was not a viable option, so Open Lab and Stadler created a VR-based experience that people could participate online. Through this approach, Nexus saved £200,000 and got a much more meaningful and immersive consultation experience through this online approach.
When Nexus presented Stadler with the first draft of the design, customers asked if it was possible to add additional seats. Having saved money through the online consultation, extra budget was made available to add more seats. Stadler created a plan to add 12 more tip-up seats per train, in what will be the bike and children's buggy storage area. Having saved money by designing a better and more immersive online consultation, it was possible to spend this money on responding to one of the biggest findings of that consultation and giving customers what they want from the new trains.
With the existing train fleet at the end of its lifespan, it is a struggle to maintain the current service. These new trains are therefore essential for serving the Tyne and Wear metro's customers. The first new train was delivered to North East England in February 2023, with the expectation that they will enter into service at the end of the year after they have been tested on the route. A fast rollout will follow during 2024, with a new train entering into service every couple of weeks. This is one of the longest projects that Nexus has implemented with a seven-year process to win funding, fulfil global procurement exercises, finalise the design with the manufacturer and customers and then begin the actual construction process. The continual engagement with customers in the process was rewarding and helped to focus the project and ensure the trains will meet real customer needs.
Visit Skåne is the regional Destination Management Organisation (DMO) for the province of Skåne in southern Sweden, with the ambition to strengthen Skåne's brand internationally and promote the visitor economy and events. Visit Skåne's vision for tourism in 2030 and beyond is for the destination to be a place where tourism and events matter. This entails Skåne being a destination where visitors are not perceived negatively within the destination - either from a social or environmental perspective - and for the region to thrive in the footsteps of visitors.
The DMO believes that tourism is sometimes misconceived as only having positive economic impacts in terms of profits for businesses or job creation during peak seasons and want to move beyond this perception with their organisation's activities to see how the visitor economy can be a positive force for solving complex societal challenges. Innovation is a tool and a method for approaching these very complicated challenges, such as biodiversity and other environmental issues, which can simultaneously be addressed and analysed from both a global and local perspective.
Visit Skåne has an innovation strategy to ensure that its process is well-defined before starting the work and understanding if projects are relevant to the organisation. This involves recognising whether the conditions are right for launching a new initiative and whether staff are sufficiently skilled for the work to be undertaken. Therefore, a checklist helps with project planning, even before the official launch of a project.
Visit Skåne have a designated in-house UX designer, which is quite a unique job position within the industry and people are intrigued and excited to learn how UX design is combined with tourism and used by a DMO. However, many people in the industry already have the mindset of involving different stakeholders within projects and trying to jointly solve the challenges faced by the industry, and society in general. Having a service design expert in-house brings a systematic approach to the design process. Nevertheless, everyone is capable of creating good solutions, even if they don't have a design background.
Visit Skåne started using innovation as a tool two years ago and still sees it as a relatively new element of their work. They enter projects with an open perspective and an understanding that initiatives could fail, but realise the significance of experimentation to facilitate change and monitor performance. At the start of projects, the organisation ensures they have the appropriate capacity and skillset within their team before identifying what outputs can be created.
Projects can sometimes have a very concrete end result, while others have more inspirational outcomes or are about making strong connections. Having different types of outputs can be beneficial and the organisation even starts the design process in different ways. Nevertheless, projects typically begin with a pre-study or a stakeholder mapping session. When analysing the potential involvement of different actors, Visit Skåne includes other DMOs and industry representatives and also tries to obtain input from external perspectives to consider governmental input, the views of local organisations and also citizens with strong opinions that would like to be involved in the process because they are impacted by the different approaches and activities being implemented. Thereby, Visit Skåne want to ensure everyone has a voice and can contribute to the process. Starting with human-centred design is key to creating the right project set-up, with the best team and the ability to listen to different opinions and stakeholders' views about how the innovation process should progress.
Having been involved in the process many times across different projects, there is a general assumption that the start of the process is not always going to be smooth as multiple stakeholders with differing visions and missions will attempt to work together and create shared objectives through discussing operational aspects and ideate concrete solutions for tackling societal challenges. Secondly, time is a precious resource as everyone is busy, reducing the available time to discuss the different options and the various advantages and disadvantages of different approaches and their expected impacts. Nevertheless, these stakeholder consultations are a fun and rewarding process to engage in, but can also sometimes result in an uncomfortable environment. There is a need to understand that it is normal to feel uncomfortable in the early stages of stakeholder consultations and to become comfortable with being in such situations because it's not possible to know the best direction for the project in advance, or if the discussion outcome can actually be implemented and if potential financiers will support it. There are lots of things that need to be taken into consideration and it's not always possible to predict the outcome, so it's important to trust in the process and continue moving forward.
There's a need to change expectations about accountability and this has been discussed at a strategic level within Visit Skåne and also with other regions and DMOs. There is a need to properly consider the set-up of projects, their structure and the processes involved from the start. However, if projects begin with prescriptive goals, then innovation is already killed during the drafting of new initiatives. Therefore, there needs to be a shift in mindset to recognise and accept that the process should begin with an undetermined project outcome.
It can be easy to jump right into launching a project and deciding upon the desired deliverables. However, this doesn't always take into account the underlying factors at the heart of the different challenges that you are trying to solve. Taking the time to explore the issues more deeply, creates the opportunity to develop deliverables that are even better than premeditated proposals. Therefore, it's important to have dialogues with stakeholders and encourage them to enable further exploration and discussion to avoid rushing into a decision before obtaining all of the evidence. For example, one of Visit Skåne's current projects has been mentally divided into three separate deliverables. The first deliverable focuses on the concrete outputs that were promised, but then Visit Skåne also want to go further as an organisation and get people to physically test these initiatives in real-life scenarios and prove whether the solutions work. Following this, it becomes possible to use these new insights to ideate further and start exploring new initiatives and support continuous innovation. If you only stick to the initial ideas and deliverables, then organisations are unaware of the full innovative potential that can be generated.
Visit Skåne initiated Project Footprint and as the leaders of the initiative they were able to fully explore the opportunities available, their potential for solving environmental challenges and create the desired output of facilitating behavioural change and a respect for environmental stewardship among visitors. With no promises made to other organisations or a need for regular reporting to stakeholders, it was possible to fully explore the design process. Visit Skåne invited a range of stakeholders from different backgrounds to be part of the process, which opened the pool of qualified individuals with different competencies that could participate and ideate together, including an architect, an urban planner, behavioural science experts, county board administrators and even a Nepalese guide. Visit Skåne was also able to launch an open call for proposals in English, when typically calls for proposals would only be written in Swedish. This innovation has sparked lots of interest from other organisations who now want to collaborate with Visit Skåne and replicate similar activities within their locality, proving that human-centred design creates strong results when you see the process through to the end.
People tend to think about innovation as being a new invention or technological development that improves efficiency and reduces costs. However, innovation is more open-ended and can also be about developing new working methods to approach a challenge or new business or cooperation models. For example, Visit Skåne were able to use the innovation process for Project Footprint to develop a relationship with the county board administrators and now have a strong relationship with them and closely collaborate on a variety of projects. When new challenges emerge, Visit Skåne have a partner that they can turn to for support and assistance.
Visit Skåne stopped using the term 'innovation process' in its current project Crisitivity and now uses the term 'new thinkers process' because industry representatives, such as hoteliers and restauranters, feel intimidated by the word innovation. There was the perception that innovation was about completely changing operational procedures, which excluded some people from being willing to get involved. With the new thinkers process, operators feel more comfortable about getting on-board and are open to thinking in different ways, overcoming their previous hesitancy.
Previously, destinations were most concerned about monitoring arrivals and guest nights in accommodation establishments as the Key Performance Indicators of a successful tourism season. Now, destinations are starting to view tourism performance from different perspectives and developing clear visions of how destinations can benefit both locals and visitors.
It's important to disregard past assumptions and beliefs about the industry and adapt strategies towards the current situational realities. This systemic shift will help destinations focus on the societal and environmental challenges they face and drive positive change. Being a public body, Visit Skåne feels a strong sense of responsibility and accountability to contribute to this process and play a leading role in transforming the destination.
Tackling societal challenges requires the industry to be an enabler of innovation processes. While tourism companies might not have the incentive or resources to initiate this change in mindset, Visit Skåne sees the potential for providing assistance through a new project looking into the different barriers to innovation and how businesses can be encouraged to change their mindsets and incorporate more sustainable approaches. To succeed in this ambition, organisations will need to be open to change and willing to go beyond their immediate mission and operational activities.
It is important to note that some organisations with multi-purpose goals may struggle with adapting their approaches to reflect new overarching ambitions for creating better destinations. For example, municipalities need to juggle multiple priorities, such as running schools and maintaining transport infrastructure, which means they have less time and resources able to dedicate to tourism and sustainability initiatives as they first need to ensure the day-to-day management of core infrastructure due to their societal importance. Sometimes when an organisation has lots of different activities and responsibilities, it becomes really easy to only focus on the problems.
With a clear mandate for tourism and events, Visit Skåne is the enabler that sparks change and brings all stakeholders together in a focused way to create a more sustainable Skåne for residents and visitors alike. Visit Skåne's industry-centred approach enables them to analyse and assess the full picture, enabling the identification of stakeholders that can play a role in creating solutions and initiating conversations that kickstart collaboration.
It's important to meet different people and make connections with representatives from municipalities and also discuss with landowners how visitors use their land. The more stakeholders that you have conversations with, the greater the insights gained and the ability to draw connections between different aspects and find new opportunities for sustainable destination development.
Despite Visit Skåne's New Thinkers Workshop and Crisitivity project having different target groups - event arrangers and hotel owners respectively - they identified the same problems and frustrations. Observing these identical challenges across different sectors of the tourism industry meant it was possible to learn more about the different people and systems involved within the industry and try to find a bridge between these elements of the tourism ecosystem and aim to identify opportunities for new developing solutions to shared challenges.
From a strategic innovation standpoint within Visit Skåne, the process of starting one project typically spawns two or three new ones. With lots of ongoing projects, Visit Skåne are continually learning and expanding its knowledge base as well as identifying new partners for cooperation that want to be involved in purposeful destination development activities. The organisation is continuing to innovate and keep moving its various initiatives forward. Visit Skåne also aspire to fully move through the design thinking process to test and implement solutions that solve the most pressing issues faced by the destination.
The human-centred approach underpins innovation. Written reports and strategies don't necessarily mean that people will follow these approaches. It is important to understand human behaviour and identify their real needs and reasons for acting in a certain manner. From these insights, it then becomes clearer as to what approaches and solutions are most likely to result in the desired behaviour change and solve the different societal or environmental challenges encountered within the destination.
Design is a future-oriented process that enhances the ability of destinations and businesses to thrive and remain resilient. Design thinking can improve customer experiences, develop solutions to societal and environmental challenges and encourage behaviour change. Market research is fundamental to the process and different consultative methods should be used to maximise input during the process. Involving knowledgeable experts is also essential to ensure that plans are viable and efficient in terms of meeting their stated objectives.
Projects should consider the public as partners in the design process. Community input can be successfully built into projects and adds value by facilitating stronger performance. Good project design results in a more immersive consultation process and saves money that can be spent on optimising project implementation. Having an open mindset and being willing to experiment by not relying on a prescriptive approach gives space for the complete exploration and research of the wider picture to identify underlying causes of issues. This results in the ability to make connections between different issues and develop stronger outputs. It is important to trust in the design process, even when conflicts arise.
There is a need for project coordinators to be accountable and responsible throughout the process and customise solutions to put the customer first through human-centred design processes. Innovation is a tool to drive change and shifts in mindsets. There is a need to disregard past assumptions and understand the current realities. A systematic approach can help to focus the process and ensure transparency. An initial step for launching projects is to ensure organisations have the right capacity and skills to achieve the desired outcome.
Communication is a key skill to bring all stakeholders together and to alleviate the conflicts created by the contrasting needs and opinions of different groups. Prototyping ideas and testing them in the market is crucial to ensure that the solutions will be successful in reality and help to ideate further and develop new innovative projects.
The podcast is part of the Hospitality Innovation Tourism Supply (HITS) programme which provides targeted support, learning resources and grant funding to businesses in Northumberland, Newcastle and North Tyneside to help make their ideas a reality. The programme is funded by North of Tyne Combined Authority and delivered by NewcastleGateshead Initiative, Food and Drink North East and NBSL.
In episode 7 of our "Driving Place-Based Innovation" podcast series, in partnership with the NewcastleGateshead Initiative, we discuss how to use design to drive innovation.
In episode 7 of our "Driving Place-Based Innovation" podcast series, in partnership with the NewcastleGateshead Initiative, we discuss how to use design to drive innovation.
In episode 7 of our "Driving Place-Based Innovation" podcast series, in partnership with the NewcastleGateshead Initiative, we discuss how to use design to drive innovation.
.webp)