Gamifying Remote Control Crane Operation in the Port of Rotterdam

The Europe Container Terminals in the Port of Rotterdam is using Remote Control Crane Operation to increase the overall productivity of so called ship-to-shore cranes that (un)load incoming container ships. With Remote Controlled Operation (RCO) the operators are no longer positioned in a cabin high in the sky, but operate the crane behind a desk in an office hundreds of meters away. User research conducted by &ranj serious games showed the operators perceive this new type of work to be less engaging than operating a crane from the cabin. In this project, gamification was used to increase the level of work engagement of remote control crane operators of ECT. In the project a user-centred design approach was taken. Extensive research on the user, his task and motivations, the context and the organisation laid the foundation for the design of a gamification system showed on a display of the remote control system called; Kist Conflict. Kist Conflict is a playful territory battle for teams of six operators working in the same room (berth teams) that revolves around the challenge of collaborative productivity of crane operation in a responsible way. A digital prototype of Kist Conflict was created and used to evaluate the user experience and its effect on the work engagement. A user test with operators (N=7) showed the majority of the operators liked interacting with the game because it offered meaningful feedback on performance and progression, and playfully tapped into the machismo of the operators. However, a questionnaire on the perceived level of work engagement in the future showed no increase their perceived work engagement. The sentiment of video-games in relation to a serious work environment, in combination with a sceptical mindset caused by experiences in the past for a share of the operators, appears to influence the perception of its success. To allow Kist Conflict to stimulate work engagement of the operators, the gamification design has to be carefully framed to avoid the image of a video-game. Gradual implementation, starting with feedback on the upcoming task and the eventual performance of the team, is advised as a first step.

Subject

gamification
serious game
crane operation
container terminal
work engagement

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Embargo date

2017-03-11

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Campus only

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Student theses

Document type

master thesis

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