Systems Observation
We observe real world systems, identify where they are not working as intended, and document what we see.
Open to commercial, public sector and community organisations.
Request a callThe work can cross domains. Transport, public space, software, services, operations, infrastructure or other systems where behaviour can be observed directly.
We focus on:
- what is happening
- where the constraint or failure may be
- what effect it is having elsewhere in the system
- what may be causing it
- what could be changed
- what should be tested or measured next
Possible Solutions
Where useful, we identify possible interventions.
Some may be obvious. Others may come from looking at the system differently, considering how its parts interact, or borrowing an approach from another domain.
We can compare options and set out:
- likely benefits
- disadvantages or trade offs
- downstream effects
- practical constraints
- questions that still need to be answered
- which options appear most worth investigating further
The purpose is not to present an unqualified technical answer. It is to make the available choices clearer before significant time or money is committed.
Working With Specialists
Some problems require traffic engineers, architects, software engineers, planners, designers, legal advisers or other specialists.
We can work alongside those specialists.
Our role is to help define what you actually need from them, identify the questions that matter, and keep the work focused on the outcome you are trying to achieve.
This can make specialist work more useful. Instead of starting with a broad instruction to examine a system, the specialist starts with specific observations, suspected constraints, possible options and clearly defined outcomes to test.
The specialist provides the domain expertise. Systems Observation helps make sure that expertise is directed at the right problem.
Output
The output is a clear written observation, supported where useful by photographs, diagrams, maps, measurements, research or other evidence.
The R132 Estuary Junction field note is an example of this type of work.
Talk it through with the people who'd do the work.
No pitch and no slides. You tell us about the system and what isn't working. We tell you straight whether we can help, and what it would take.