A visionary initiative merging history with sustainability and community engagement.
Amtrak's Historical Stations of the Future Initiative aims to modernize historic stations while preserving their essence and strengthening community ties. The Innovation Team developed a participatory design process, inviting all employees to pitch ideas in a live event. This approach fosters a culture of innovation and inclusion, empowering Amtrak staff to co-create the future of passenger rail. The project involved in-depth research at Wilmington Station, uncovering key insights that informed sustainable and user-centric solutions.
Problem
Amtrak's historic stations are vital assets, embodying rich cultural heritage while serving as crucial transportation hubs. However, these stations face challenges in meeting modern sustainability standards and operational needs. The project aimed to address these challenges while preserving the stations' historical significance and enhancing their role in the community.
Solution
This research was exploratory and intended to uncover important context, opportunities, and challenges associated with operating a historic station. Inquiry focused on understanding how employees' experiences, actions, tasks, behaviors, and attitudes, as well as the building's sustainability measures, are impacted by Joseph R. Biden Jr. Station's historic status.
The project fostered a culture of innovation within Amtrak, improved employee engagement, and generated actionable ideas for sustainable station upgrades. It also strengthened the connection between Amtrak's heritage and its future vision.
Things I Can Share
Below are highlights of the role I played in this initiative.
If you want to know more, feel free to reach out to me.
Desk Research, Framing, Empathize
Activities:
- Conduct preliminary research on the types of roles and contractual responsibilities of Union workers
Outcomes:
- Clear understanding of the union worker culture to better empathize and frame questions
Plan, Design, Prioritize Problem Space Discovery
Activities:
- Brainstorm relevant and contextual questions
- Refine and prioritize topics
- Develop interview guide
- Develop post research analysis plan
- Project research planning & management
Outcomes:
- Thematic questions, prioritized for specific roles
- Centralized repository of research PM tasks for future template efficiency including a/v tech considerations, contingencies, and communications
2-Day In-Station Research Day
Activities:
- Full day interview and shadowing with 5 union station workers (PIDS Operator, APD, Baggage Crew)
- 1 co-facilitator
- Exploratory and passive interview questions
Outcomes:
- Build rapport with union workers for future collaboration
- Sustainability project gain and pain points from different station roles and responsibilities
Themes, Opportunities, Analysis Downselection
Activities:
- Recording compilation and organization to delegate transcription
- Affinity mapping, adding innovative insights from context
- Pattern identification by hand and via NLP analysis on raw transcripts
Outcomes:
- Six major themes: Historical/Cultural Value, Improving Signage, Reducing Paper, Energy Efficiency, Employees’ Role in Sustainability, Updating Infrastructure
- NLP highlighted probability values about a topic, triangulating the themes we identified
Summarize and Report Handoff for ELT
Activities:
- Research insight deck preparation
- Handoff to union workers for approval of theme and idea generation
Outcomes:
- Highlighted co-creation methodology and approach to ELT
- Successful collaboration between Innovation team and union workers to foster co-creation and empowerment
Takeaways
Here are a few action shots during shadowing and qualitative research @ the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Station.
Engaging employees across all levels in the innovation process not only generates diverse and practical ideas but also fosters a culture of inclusion and empowerment within the organization.
Successfully modernizing historical infrastructure requires a delicate balance between preserving cultural significance and implementing cutting-edge sustainable solutions, achievable through careful research and stakeholder input.