South Australia Police - Mobile Workforce Program

SAPOL aimed to modernise police operations and improve officer efficiency by addressing challenges in their existing technology setup. A user-centred approach was considered essential to streamline workflows and enhance accessibility to critical tools, ensuring officers could perform their duties effectively.

Existing Device Capabilities
The use of personal mobile phones presented limitations, including inconsistent access to real-time information and a lack of integration with SAPOL’s secure systems. These challenges emphasised the need for a user-focused design that integrated critical functions into a single, standardised device, ensuring officers could easily access the tools they needed to perform their duties efficiently.

Safety and Efficiency
The layout of applications on officers’ personal devices did not align with the needs of police workflows, making it difficult to access frequently used or safety-critical tools in high-stakes situations. A user-centred approach was needed to ensure that application layouts prioritised usability, allowing officers to intuitively access essential tools under pressure and improve both safety and operational efficiency.

Inter-team Communication

Effective communication between teams was hindered by a mix of tools that did not fully support seamless or secure collaboration. A user-focused approach was required to design workflows and features that simplified communication, enhanced coordination between teams, and ensured tools were intuitive and efficient for officers in the field.

Information Security

Data security and privacy were paramount for SAPOL’s operations, but officers’ personal devices lacked secure communication channels and controlled access. Balancing robust security measures with usability was essential to create a platform that officers could rely on without compromising operational workflows. UX considerations were critical to ensuring these features were accessible and intuitive for officers to use in dynamic environments.

User Adoption and Training

Transitioning officers from personal devices to secure, work-issued phones posed potential challenges. A deep understanding of user needs and preferences was necessary to design training and onboarding programs that ensured officers could quickly adopt the new technology. UX research would play a key role in addressing potential barriers to adoption and ensuring a smooth transition to the new system.

Before engaging Katalyst, SAPOL initiated a pilot program as the first phase of the Mobile Workforce Program. The trial involved providing 300 officers with preconfigured mobile phone devices, each loaded with sanctioned applications. This eight-month trial aimed to gather user experience feedback to refine the usability and adoption process of these devices.

The pilot program served as a foundational step toward equipping over 3,500 officers, including frontline, non-uniform, and back-office users, with these devices. The trial's primary objectives were to test the devices in real-world conditions, gain insights into officers' experiences, and gather data to guide subsequent refinements.

Katalyst employed a comprehensive UX research methodology. This process involved selecting a diverse group of participants, including frontline officers from various branches of law enforcement. Katalyst facilitated workshops to gather detailed insights into the officers' interactions with the devices and applications. The research focused on understanding user needs, behaviours, and preferences to optimise the application layout and overall user experience.

The first phase of the UX research involved thematic framing and card-sorting exercises. Officers categorised applications based on three key themes:

Katalyst introduced the ‘Officer Safety’ theme to ensure a comprehensive consideration of operational requirements. Data was obtained through workshops, each yielding a unique set of categories chosen by the participants.

This method provided critical insights into how officers perceived and organised the applications on their work phones, highlighting the most important and frequently used apps.

Building on the card-sorting insights, low-fidelity prototyping sessions were conducted. Officers created tangible representations of their ideal app layouts using printed templates and icons. This hands-on approach allowed participants to visualise their preferred app organisation, providing valuable data on their needs, behaviours, and expectations.

Throughout the workshops, user-centric conversations were facilitated to gather deeper, qualitative insights. These open-ended discussions enabled officers to share their experiences and preferences regarding the new devices and applications. The conversations complemented the structured exercises, uncovering nuanced details about user interactions and challenges.

Based on the findings from the research activities, an optimised application layout was proposed. The layout prioritised frequently used and safety-critical apps on the home screen, ensuring they were easily accessible. Customisation options were also recommended, allowing officers to tailor the layout to their specific roles and preferences.

A step-by-step process was established to streamline the integration of new applications onto SAPOL mobile phones. This process emphasised evaluating the app's significance based on usage frequency, task relevance, and safety. User testing was also recommended to ensure the new app's usability and relevance before full deployment.

Katalyst also recommended an onboarding and support program to facilitate the smooth adoption of the new devices. This included personalised training sessions, interactive guides, and continuous support to help officers become proficient with the work phones and applications.

Recommendations were made to improve system design and configuration, focusing on enhancing usability. These included optimising notification settings to reduce distractions, providing guidelines for background image customisation to improve app visibility, and implementing consistent app icon design for better navigation.

These solutions aimed to address the identified challenges and enhance the overall user experience for police officers, ensuring the successful integration of the new mobile technology into their daily operations.

The Katalyst team delivered SAPOL a comprehensive 71-page UX research and analysis report, providing insights that shaped the implementation of the Mobile Workforce Program. The report highlighted officers' needs and workflows, leading to an optimised application layout that prioritised frequently used and safety-critical applications, improving operational efficiency and reducing navigation time.

Guidelines for integrating new applications ensured SAPOL could maintain a user-focused approach as its technology evolved. Recommendations for onboarding and support strategies, including personalised training and ongoing assistance, helped officers adopt the devices smoothly and effectively.

Katalyst emphasised the importance of continuous improvement to align the system with officers’ evolving needs. SAPOL was also provided with recommendations for further UX research and the development of in-house UX capabilities to sustain user-centred design practices.

These outcomes provided SAPOL with a clear roadmap to enhance mobile workforce operations, modernise policing practices, and support officers in delivering effective community service.