A customer journey brought to life

DNV GL Maritime’s Operational Centre is an extended service for maritime customers aimed at supporting the delivery of remote services on vessels, such as surveys or helpdesk support. EGGS Design has designed the overall experience of not only the centre, but the whole physical customer journey throughout the Containership Excellence floor in Hamburg.

The first Operational Centre, located in Høvik – Norway, was born from a desire to provide a more modern, collaborative, and integrated approach to remote surveys on vessels. The remote surveys were piloted in 2018, and have worked well. However, over time DNV GL’s vision grew beyond the existing solution and challenged EGGS Design to bring it to life. When creating a new flagship centre in Hamburg, we aimed to improve the following areas:

The workflow support: by providing more value to operators with the software tools on the screens, integrating them with the way they work, including when it is not being used.
The physical space: the look and feel needed to be modernised to better fit its purpose, taking important factors into consideration: ergonomics, light, sound, materials, and context in the building, while aligned with the DNV GL brand.
The usability of the A/V (audio/video) set-up: logging-on to the system, connecting a laptop, working collaboratively (whether using Video-Conferencing or side-by-side), controlling the layout of the screens, etc.

In the design proposal, we considered construction techniques, materials, and furniture solutions that could meet the demands of a multi-purpose space, in terms of light, acoustics, ergonomics, and the circulation and interaction of people in the room as well as in the adjacent areas. All material and design choices needed to reflect DNV GL’s vision and brand. This included colours, materials, finish, equipment, furniture, lighting choices, and signage.

EGGS were able to help us find a balance between the aesthetic aspect of design, good functionality, and staying on budget.

Tjimen Klamer, Project Manager, DNV GL

The environment is part of the experience

Working together with DNV GL, we designed the experience of a customer visiting the entire floor where their Containership Excellence Centre is located. The physical environment is an important part of the experience, which is why we spent a significant amount of time and energy on its design. Apart from the Operational Centre, the work involved a new Welcome Centre and signage throughout the floor, where the department layout physically represents the customer journey.

We also interviewed users in Oslo and Hamburg to get an understanding of their pains and needs, observing how the process works, from the point a ticket is created to when it’s closed. Based on this, we identified concrete user requirements and proposed solutions to improve and expand the user possibilities of the room in terms of workflows, collaboration, and data visualisation.

The Hamburg set-up features a nearly four-meter-wide video-wall with integrated software. The design and concept stage of the project was executed in only two months. (Image credits: DNV GL)

A digital experience that supports the work-flow

Apart from the space, the digital tools are essential to the work-flow itself. To meet the users’ needs, we designed a global overview dashboard for the main operations screen. The design had to take into account the specific workflows of the operators, and factor in usability, legibility, and lighting conditions of the physical space. Moreover, we advised DNV GL on equipment solutions to better support the workflows and specifications for A/V (audio and video) contractors.

Cyviz proved to be the right choice to solve this problem, thanks to their holistic approach to A/V systems.

Many systems overlook the complexity of the technical equipment needed to support the different use cases (for example, screens with different modes, laptop views, video-conferencing, and remote survey software with audio and video routing). Solutions are often complex to use and frustrating for users. Cyviz proved to be the right choice to solve this problem, thanks to their holistic approach to A/V systems. (Image credits: DNV GL)

20 000 remote surveys delivered in two years

The Hamburg launch in October 2020 marks the two-year anniversary of DNV GL’s fleet-wide roll-out of remote surveys. It also marks the impressive milestone of a total of 20,000 delivered remote surveys.