The Moerdijk area is characterized as a risky and complicate crossing of waterways. Inland barges, sea-going vessels and recreational skippers all interact in this area. ‘Rijkswaterstaat’, ‘Varen Doe Je Samen’ and local authorities want to reduce the risks in this area. One of the solutions is an app that provides recreational skippers with insight in the traffic and circumstances in the Moerdijk area. Teqplay was asked to develop in collaboration with the community a solution. In a nutshell we will ‘guide’ you through innovative journey of the Koerswijzer project.
The process
Where to start? The recreational skipper… The recreational skipper will be the user and therefore the most important player in the process. So, the first step is to ‘know the ropes’ about actual experiences of skippers. Over 20 recreational, barge skippers and patrol skippers were invited to Port-Play, the Teqplay methodology for capturing requirements. In co-creation, we identified a list of dangerous situations, and above all, listened to their stories and experiences.
The output of the PortPlay workshop was translated into different solutions to support the recreational skipper for a safe crossing. But how to choose the best one? In a second workshop the 7 defined solution concepts were presented, discussed and improved on. Together with the skippers and other stakeholders the concepts were prioritized. The most promising concepts were combined and translated into an application; Koerswijzer.
The application
Koerswijzer provides the skipper with insight in traffic, based on AIS, on the waterways in Moerdijk. It provides the skipper with relevant information about the current traffic and the environmental conditions. Not only the position of vessels is shown, also the expected behavior. Vessels are shown as an arrow where the length of the arrow and the direction is indicate the predicted location of the vessel.
Combining data sources
While using the app, it is connected to the skipper’s GPS location. It shows which barges are approaching your ship. The crossing ‘Dordtsche Kil’ and ‘Hollandsch Diep’ is also known for its tide difference and resulting currents, these are made visible in the app as well.
During an intensive, playful and informative 3-month pilot period, the Koerswijzer app was designed and tested by over 60 users.
