UX: Port Terminals Towards Digital Transformation
Why is designing experiences the next level towards a better port terminal performance?
On the road to process digitalization, experience design allows new contact channels to be conceived based on the users’ needs, avoiding constraints and frustrations that stem from the interaction with technology.
We have noticed that different kinds of businesses -among the financial, health and insurance industries- have embraced the user experience as part of the digitalization process, and the results show the strengthening of both their businesses and their clients, workers, and partners’ trust. Doesn’t the port industry need the same thing?
The port terminals’ business depends on an aligned and agile coordination between people, systems, and machines so that processes are as fast as possible. In this industry, far more than in others, time is money, and those who take part in the operations know it: all of them try to beat the clock.
Those who have taken the first steps towards the digitalization of their operations have done so, mainly, to streamline the import and export processes, so as to achieve an enhanced cargo monitoring and reduce the margin of error caused by the lack of technology.
“Sometimes I don’t get to export a cargo because it takes me 40’ to fill out the papers”.
Now It’s the Terminals’ Turn
On the road to digitalization, we tend to leave behind the actual experience of those who use the applications and in what context they do it. Thus, everything that was gained through digitalization gets lost between the users’ slowness and frustration when it comes to understanding the new systems, and the potential technical risks arising from the platform’s misuse.
“Training hours for the use of the platforms must be calculated.” Comment by the technical manager of a port terminal that didn’t have platforms with UX.
On the contrary, if we introduce solutions designed from a user-centered approach, not only the learning curve will be faster but we will also detect potential opportunities that may help improve the use and efficiency of port logistics.
Moreover, terminals are a physical space that gathers the combination of different stakeholders of the port community that, due to the digital transformation, can work in an aligned way. Thus, if the new digital channels are focused on the effective interaction between players, we can prevent digitalization’s technical problems from scaling and impacting on the business core as well as the end users’ experience.
On top of that, the pandemic is showing us that we are on the right track, because social distancing and imposed digitalization are part of the journey to the new normal. The question regarding how to prevent this transition from causing pain to those who have to assemble new relationship logistics can also be answered if we put the spotlight on UX.
Regarding both the terminals that are starting to go digital and those who are already transitioning, people-centered design is an ally that can serve as a bridge to adjust to new realities and achieve better results in their business units.
