Communicating compliance : A qualitative research of safety information within blue collar industries in Sweden and Norway and an onboarding design proposal of a regulatory compliance app

Abstract: Which solutions exist within the blue collar industries in Sweden and Norway today for conveying safety information to its employees? How may one re-design an understandable onboarding process to a digital app for Swedish-speaking blue collar workers? This study set out to research these questions, collaborating with Inphiz Technologies AB, a SaaS company in Stockholm, Sweden who has created a digital service to manage and automate legislative and regulatory compliance data in blue collar industries. The objective of the study was to answer the research questions and to create a design proposal for the users first steps into the Inphiz app through an onboarding process. Qualitative research methods were conducted throughout a design process with a PACT framework and a case study approach from March 13th to May 25th 2023, in different parts of Sweden. The collected data was aggregated and analysed through affinity diagrams. Results from the analysis showed clear patterns of the workers difficulties in following through with legislative and regulatory compliance due to a dissonance between internal and external demands. Blue collar workers within the construction industry worked under conditions where a trade-off between security and economy existed. However, engagement through all levels of the organisation supported the maintaining and cultivation of a safety culture, affecting the behaviours and attitudes of the employees. Digital tools concerning compliance and communication were moreover perceived as beneficial to the organisation, but in companies where they were present, the onboarding of the employees demanded a lot of resources and convincing of the tools benefits. Furthermore, having users finding the aha moment early the digital prototype and using explorative learning made them realise the benefits of the app. As a summary, this paper gives perspective on the organisational and environmental context of a blue collar worker with regards to safety information and how cognitive strategies can improve the onboarding UX of a digital app. Recommendations in carrying out similar research would be to increase the level of user participation.