Development of User Interface for Personnel on Board System

Abstract

Planning on Board (POB) is a planning system used by oil field centers to control the logistics of all offshore personnel. The system uses mainly four different programs for the different aspects of the planning process, which increases the time spent on creating new plans and performing changes to existing ones. Each program has one or two people in charge of it. Each person only knows how to perform their little part in the planning process. There can be five or more people involved with the process of sending out just one worker to the platform.

The programs in use are big and include many functionalities, most of which the planners are not even aware of and don’t bother to learn. The overall interface is confusing and requires a long process of many clicks of the mouse. The amount of data they process on a daily basis is large and vast.

The people involved in the planning are onshore workers. They create the plans as best they can with the means they have at their disposal. When the plan is sent to the offshore personnel for execution, several changes usually have to be made. Security rules, wheather conditions and illness can slow down or completely stop the work. Leading to the exchange of workers and the plan sometimes being sent back onshore for modification. During the planning process onshore, the offshore personnel are not involved in the process at all.

The project described in this report sought to explore and create new and more user friendly ways of visualizing the planning process. The aim was to minimize the number of links the planning process has to go trough and at the same time open up for more discussion with offshore workers, contractors and extra personnel. The four programs would also be merged into one usable interface.