The Border Force goes digital
Challenge
The World Customs Organization (WCO) is the international authority on customs and border security. The body oversees 98% of world trade and its role is to secure the international trade supply chain. It created the IPM system, a real-time communication hub that connects border force officers on the ground and private members. After 4 years its usage remained limited to a handful of border agencies. Research revealed that user interface issues were a major blocker to adoption. The WCO approached us to rethink the system. We adopted a user-centred approach to improve the usability. Following the release of the new system, usage grew to cover border agencies in 100+ countries and improved the results of ground operations manifold.
Solution
ULTRAFAST ERGONOMICS Customs officers use the web platform all over the world, from the port of Frankfurt to the outback in Kazakhstan. To enable people with completely different backgrounds to use the system, we shaped the user experience with straightforward interaction patterns and we tested them with users before integrating them into the UI concept. A LOGICAL INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE We completely restructured the information architecture according to principles from cognitive science. A logical overview and a coherent experience reduce the need for training and support, making it easier to scale the number of users. We hid little features in the app that educate the users about hacks for specific tasks. Thus, we have observed that as they use the app, their productivity goes up. CONTEXT AWARE COMPUTING The app supports officers with as much useful information as possible. It can gather information from the context, from the database and from the command center, to interpret it and thus guide officers during interventions with reliable and comprehensive intelligence. The app becomes smarter every day as it is fed with new data and it builds a historical database.
Results
107 governments signed up to the system 200% increase in right holder user sign-ups Platform use increased by 20% among officers and 67% among right holders The system was used in field operations involving 2000+ officers Training costs for officers were reduced by 78% Significant decrease in support tickets and associated costs
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