MAXIMALdesign teamed up with interaction design agency Namahn to help the National Railways with their new payment systems for the trainconductors, with extended functionalities for the starting procedures and customer information. In short train conductors need to carry a lot of stuff around their bodies, during their whole working shift. Products for the ticketing and trip control in the first place, but collecting all the necessary frequent and non-frequent usage elements required a thorough approach.

We started with insight: a workshop with train-conductors and staff in order to extend the briefing: which elements, which ergonomic and safety requirements, which usage. We travelled with some train, in oder to observe the working procedures and to deduct some practical conclusions.

The design of the carry system resulted in a super-modular collection of elements, taht will be offered in a full set, produced with superior quality standards to resist the challenging working environment. With this set the users can choose their preferred carrying lay-out, albeit hanging from or over the shoulder, or from a carry belt. All elements are interchangeable for ergonomic comfortable usage, for left and right handed people, acceptable for all sizes of people, with the integration of the brand elements of the national railways of Belgium.

MAXIMALdesign organised the prototyping of the full set, with which practical field tests were performed, much to the liking of the on-board staff. This resulted in a production file and a final product set as a benchmark for the final producer of the complete production.