More subway observations
As I mentioned before, I probably have an unhealthy fascination with public transport systems. I'm not a trainspotter, I can't tell the difference between two models of the same make of subway car, not can I tell you how many horsepower one has or how much it weighs. What fascinates me is the system.
Take, for example, a relatively simple subway system…Washington DC's Metro. There are five lines with 86 stations. The system has over 100 miles of track and carries over 600,000 people into and out of the District on a daily basis. The immediate logistical difficulties are obvious. How far apart should trains be? How many cars should be on a train? How can you coordinate two lines so that they don't dump two trains full of people at rush hour into a small station? Now take those problems and move them to Seoul, where there are 9 lines (run by three separate companies, no less, but still interconnected) and over 360 stations.
These problems boggle the mind, but it's the human interface element that truly fascinates me, and that is where the Seoul Subway excels. For starters almost all signage is in Korean, English and Chinese. There is almost nobody in Korea (tourists included) who does not speak at least one of these languages. It does pretty blatantly exclude the Japanese, but that's a cultural thing (what with the whole occupation thing during WWII). Secondly, there are marks on the platform where the doors will be when the train arrives. People naturally line up at these footprint. Perhaps I should say "gather" as the Koreans are not well know for their queuing skills. Those two are no-brainers, but for the great stuff you have to do some real thinking. Understand the mindset of the typical subway rider.
Imagine you're coming home after a long week of work. It's Saturday evening and you're looking forward to your one-day weekend. You zone out as the subway rumbles through stop after stop. The monotone voice announced each stop (in three languages) but you barely notice. You need to change trains at Ichon station, but the car is so crowded and you've been zoning in and out you really don't know where you are. Suddenly, you hear birds chirping. What? Your mind suddenly shifts gears and you hear "The next station is Ichon. The exit doors are on your left."
Subtlety #1: Stations announcements for stations that allow you to change to another line are preceded by an out-of-place (but somewhat calming) sound, be it birds or a short string melody. This allows your brain to re-focus and pay closer attention to the announcement.
So you have exited the train and you need to find your way to the other line. Well, you could follow the signs to the track. Or you could look at a map of the station:
Is seems fairly standard. A 3-D-ish view of the station, a red "You Are Here" dot, emergency exits, etc. But wait…walk to the other side of the same sign and you see this:
Take a moment and think about what is going on here. The signs are drawn based on the user's perspective. A rider looking at the first sign would turn right to get to the escalators, while a rider looking at the second sign would turn left. While this might seem like a very minor thing, and would at least double the number of station maps that are required, it makes the the system that much more user-friendly.
Speaking as someone who is 7-13 hours ahead of most of his friends and family perspective is very important. I've found myself using phrases such as "tomorrow my time, tonight your time" as often as a lecturer uses "to my left, your right."
Take, for example, a relatively simple subway system…Washington DC's Metro. There are five lines with 86 stations. The system has over 100 miles of track and carries over 600,000 people into and out of the District on a daily basis. The immediate logistical difficulties are obvious. How far apart should trains be? How many cars should be on a train? How can you coordinate two lines so that they don't dump two trains full of people at rush hour into a small station? Now take those problems and move them to Seoul, where there are 9 lines (run by three separate companies, no less, but still interconnected) and over 360 stations.
These problems boggle the mind, but it's the human interface element that truly fascinates me, and that is where the Seoul Subway excels. For starters almost all signage is in Korean, English and Chinese. There is almost nobody in Korea (tourists included) who does not speak at least one of these languages. It does pretty blatantly exclude the Japanese, but that's a cultural thing (what with the whole occupation thing during WWII). Secondly, there are marks on the platform where the doors will be when the train arrives. People naturally line up at these footprint. Perhaps I should say "gather" as the Koreans are not well know for their queuing skills. Those two are no-brainers, but for the great stuff you have to do some real thinking. Understand the mindset of the typical subway rider.
Imagine you're coming home after a long week of work. It's Saturday evening and you're looking forward to your one-day weekend. You zone out as the subway rumbles through stop after stop. The monotone voice announced each stop (in three languages) but you barely notice. You need to change trains at Ichon station, but the car is so crowded and you've been zoning in and out you really don't know where you are. Suddenly, you hear birds chirping. What? Your mind suddenly shifts gears and you hear "The next station is Ichon. The exit doors are on your left."
Subtlety #1: Stations announcements for stations that allow you to change to another line are preceded by an out-of-place (but somewhat calming) sound, be it birds or a short string melody. This allows your brain to re-focus and pay closer attention to the announcement.
So you have exited the train and you need to find your way to the other line. Well, you could follow the signs to the track. Or you could look at a map of the station:
Is seems fairly standard. A 3-D-ish view of the station, a red "You Are Here" dot, emergency exits, etc. But wait…walk to the other side of the same sign and you see this:
Take a moment and think about what is going on here. The signs are drawn based on the user's perspective. A rider looking at the first sign would turn right to get to the escalators, while a rider looking at the second sign would turn left. While this might seem like a very minor thing, and would at least double the number of station maps that are required, it makes the the system that much more user-friendly.
Speaking as someone who is 7-13 hours ahead of most of his friends and family perspective is very important. I've found myself using phrases such as "tomorrow my time, tonight your time" as often as a lecturer uses "to my left, your right."
posted by tcw1138 at 4:46 AM
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