ParkIQ
Streamlining the process of finding parking in Seattle's University District.
Streamlining the process of finding parking in Seattle's University District.
Team
Team
Anita Daniel
Sofia Walton
Erzhen Wei
Sophia Mai (me!)
Anita Daniel
Sofia Walton
Erzhen Wei
Sophia Mai (me!)
Timeline
Timeline
20 weeks
Industry
Industry
User Research
Product Design
User Research
Product Design
Introduction
Introduction
Parking Rangers was designed in a team of four as a six-month long project for a two-quarter series called HCDE 302 and HCDE 303 (Foundations of Human Centered Design).
Our challenge was to choose a problem that University of Washington students face, and design in order to address this problem. My team designed a platform that utilizes real-time data collected from parking meters that we designed in order to make the process of finding parking in University District less stressful and more efficient.
Parking Rangers was designed in a team of four as a six-month long project for a two-quarter series called HCDE 302 and HCDE 303 (Foundations of Human Centered Design).
Our challenge was to choose a problem that University of Washington students face, and design in order to address this problem. My team designed a platform that utilizes real-time data collected from parking meters that we designed in order to make the process of finding parking in University District less stressful and more efficient.
Impact
Impact
It was my first time going through the entire design process to create a solution for our problem space!
It was my first time going through the entire design process to create a solution for our problem space!
Parking in UDistrict is Really, Really Hard
If you’ve ever been in UDistrict, you would know how difficult it is to find parking there. As some say on Reddit, it “might be the worst place in the whole city [of Seattle] for parking.”
Some contributors to this issue include transit-oriented roads, lack of parking garages, confusing signage, and exorbitant and varying parking fees. I have many friends that either drive to campus or have their car to University District, and I’ve watched all of them circle around for at least ten minutes looking for parking.
While brainstorming problems we faced in UDistrict, we all agreed that finding parking was much harder than it needed to be, and that we could come up with a solution to simplify this process.
Parking in UDistrict is Really, Really Hard
If you’ve ever been in UDistrict, you would know how difficult it is to find parking there. As some say on Reddit, it “might be the worst place in the whole city [of Seattle] for parking.”
Some contributors to this issue include transit-oriented roads, lack of parking garages, confusing signage, and exorbitant and varying parking fees. I have many friends that either drive to campus or have their car to University District, and I’ve watched all of them circle around for at least ten minutes looking for parking.
While brainstorming problems we faced in UDistrict, we all agreed that finding parking was much harder than it needed to be, and that we could come up with a solution to simplify this process.
Problem Statement
How might we design a system that supports UW students using vehicles in the U-District by helping them find parking in a timely and efficient manner during the school year?
Problem Statement
Problem Statement
How might we design a system that supports UW students using vehicles in the U-District by helping them find parking in a timely and efficient manner during the school year?
How might we design a system that supports UW students using vehicles in the U-District by helping them find parking in a timely and efficient manner during the school year?
Competitive Analysis
We then looked into competitors for existing parking infrastructure/apps, like existing parking apps (such as SpotHero, ParkingPanda, etc.), parking meters & signage, and the current app/website used to pay for parking in Seattle, PayByPhone.
Competitive Analysis
We then looked into competitors for existing parking infrastructure/apps, like existing parking apps (such as SpotHero, ParkingPanda, etc.), parking meters & signage, and the current app/website used to pay for parking in Seattle, PayByPhone.
Takeaway #1
Takeaway #1
Existing parking apps are designed not street parking.
Most parking apps are designed for parking lots, but there are very few parking lots in UDistrict, so these traditional apps don’t address the parking issue.
Existing parking apps are designed not street parking.
Most parking apps are designed for parking lots, but there are very few parking lots in UDistrict, so these traditional apps don’t address the parking issue.
Takeaway #2
Takeaway #2
Users do not get clarification to where you can and cannot street park in UDistrict.
Because these parking apps don’t include street parking, users can easily be confused by signage and meters.
Users do not get clarification to where you can and cannot street park in UDistrict.
Because these parking apps don’t include street parking, users can easily be confused by signage and meters.
Takeaway #3
Takeaway #3
Current parking apps don’t have a feature that notifies you when parking is available near your location, if you choose to share your location.
When users reach their destinations, it can be hard to spot parking, which causes people to circle around until they find a spot or park much further from their destination.
Current parking apps don’t have a feature that notifies you when parking is available near your location, if you choose to share your location.
When users reach their destinations, it can be hard to spot parking, which causes people to circle around until they find a spot or park much further from their destination.
Interviews
Our team conducted one round of interviews, where we found students that park several times a week in UDistrict gain a better understanding of their experiences parking in UDistrict and what to include in our solution to make finding parking as easy as possible.
Methods
We conducted four 15-20 minute interviews in total. Participants were recruited finding students that commute/have a car around campus.
Our inclusion criteria were that the interviewees had to be undergrad students at the University of Washington that either commute to campus or brought their cars to campus. They have to park in the University District at least several times a week.
Interviews
Our team conducted one round of interviews, where we found students that park several times a week in UDistrict gain a better understanding of their experiences parking in UDistrict and what to include in our solution to make finding parking as easy as possible.
Methods
We conducted four 15-20 minute interviews in total. Participants were recruited finding students that commute/have a car around campus.
Our inclusion criteria were that the interviewees had to be undergrad students at the University of Washington that either commute to campus or brought their cars to campus. They have to park in the University District at least several times a week.
Key Interview Questions
Tell me about your initial feelings surrounding finding parking in the U-district area.
How long do you typically look to park for?
Why is it important for you to find a parking spot in a timely manner?
What makes it difficult to park in a timely manner (ie. finding parking, the act of parking, understanding signage, parking meters)?
Are you confident in your ability to identify different parking signs and their meanings (ie. curbs painted yellow vs red or white)?
How often have you received a parking ticket in the U-district area?
What are your thoughts on safety when parking in the U-district late at night?
Why do you think that?
What are some useful technologies that could be created to improve the experience of finding parking?
Key Interview Questions
Tell me about your initial feelings surrounding finding parking in the U-district area.
How long do you typically look to park for?
Why is it important for you to find a parking spot in a timely manner?
What makes it difficult to park in a timely manner (ie. finding parking, the act of parking, understanding signage, parking meters)?
Are you confident in your ability to identify different parking signs and their meanings (ie. curbs painted yellow vs red or white)?
How often have you received a parking ticket in the U-district area?
What are your thoughts on safety when parking in the U-district late at night?
Why do you think that?
What are some useful technologies that could be created to improve the experience of finding parking?
Affinity Map
Affinity Map
Takeaway #1
Takeaway #1
People are generally very frustrated and stressed with finding parking spots on campus.
This frustration stems from the amount of time people spend trying to find parking around campus, confusing signage, and the limited number of parking spots available, or parallel parking.
People are generally very frustrated and stressed with finding parking spots on campus.
This frustration stems from the amount of time people spend trying to find parking around campus, confusing signage, and the limited number of parking spots available, or parallel parking.
Takeaway #2
Takeaway #2
Safety is a top priority, especially the safety of themselves and their belongings.
Because UDistrict is generally not a super safe area, students are anxious about walking and parking at night, which can contribute to students’ negative feelings about parking in UDistrict.
Safety is a top priority, especially the safety of themselves and their belongings.
Because UDistrict is generally not a super safe area, students are anxious about walking and parking at night, which can contribute to students’ negative feelings about parking in UDistrict.
Takeaway #3
Takeaway #3
It's easy to ticketed when parking in UDistrict.
This is because people are unable to find parking elsewhere, unsure of the signage, or misjudge time limits.
It's easy to ticketed when parking in UDistrict.
This is because people are unable to find parking elsewhere, unsure of the signage, or misjudge time limits.
Takeaway #4
Takeaway #4
Features they would like to see in our solution:
Notifications on time limits
Displaying availability of street parking
Clarifiy signage to avoid confusion
Features they would like to see in our solution:
Notifications on time limits
Displaying availability of street parking
Clarifiy signage to avoid confusion
Personas & User Journey
Personas & User Journey
As the last step in the user research process, we created a journey map to summarize the steps and actions a user must take when finding a street parking spot in UDistrict. These personas were informed from the insights of our user research. Additionally, the map takes note of their thoughts throughout the process.
As the last step in the user research process, we created a journey map to summarize the steps and actions a user must take when finding a street parking spot in UDistrict. These personas were informed from the insights of our user research. Additionally, the map takes note of their thoughts throughout the process.
Ideation
Based on our interviews, we learned that our solution needed to:
Reduce the amount of time spent looking for parking in UDistrict
Clarify signage and indicate whether you can park in a certain area
Notify users about the safety of the area they are considering parking in
Notify users of parking restrictions and time limits
Ideation
Based on our interviews, we learned that our solution needed to:
Reduce the amount of time spent looking for parking in UDistrict
Clarify signage and indicate whether you can park in a certain area
Notify users about the safety of the area they are considering parking in
Notify users of parking restrictions and time limits
Initial Sketches
We then narrowed down our ideas to the 3 most promising ideas, which were an app interface, physical technology communicating through an app (using parking data to populate the app), and notifying users. We then created sketches and storyboards for these ideas.
Sketches & Storyboards
Initial Sketches
We then narrowed down our ideas to the 3 most promising ideas, which were an app interface, physical technology communicating through an app (using parking data to populate the app), and notifying users. We then created sketches and storyboards for these ideas.
Based on our competitor and user research, we decided to do something similar to existing parking reservation apps, but
Sketches & Storyboards
Feedback
After our first ideation phase, we presented our ideas and received feedback on our designs. Because our main idea was to combine these three ideas together into one app, we received two main pieces of feedback:
Feedback
After our first ideation phase, we presented our ideas and received feedback on our designs. Because our main idea was to combine these three ideas together into one app, we received two main pieces of feedback:
Distracted Driving
If people are on their phones to reserve parking while driving, it will lead to safety concerns about distracted driving.
Distracted Driving
If people are on their phones to reserve parking while driving, it will lead to safety concerns about distracted driving.
Reinforcing Reservations
It's difficult to reinforce and make people respect the rules of a reservation system (ie. parking only for the time period they paid for, not parking in a reserved spot, not showing up for their reservation).
Reinforcing Reservations
It's difficult to reinforce and make people respect the rules of a reservation system (ie. parking only for the time period they paid for, not parking in a reserved spot, not showing up for their reservation).
Switching to a Community-Based Approach
Upon receiving this feedback and considering our options, we realized our idea was not feasible to design and implement. We decided to shift towards a community-based approach, where users could leave updates about parking spots and use sensors to gather data about which parking spots are available to provide real-time availability data.
Switching to a Community-Based Approach
Upon receiving this feedback and considering our options, we realized our idea was not feasible to design and implement. We decided to shift towards a community-based approach, where users could leave updates about parking spots and use sensors to gather data about which parking spots are available to provide real-time availability data.
Low-Fidelity Prototype
Once we established our pivot to a community-based app, we settled on the main pages of our app, which created lower fidelity wireframes for in Figma. We established three key user flows that we then tested via concept testing:
1) Choosing a spot
2) Finding an available spot through the notifications tab
3) Finding past spots they've parked in
Low-Fidelity Prototype
Once we established our pivot to a community-based app, we settled on the main pages of our app, which created lower fidelity wireframes for in Figma. We established three key user flows that we then tested via concept testing:
1) Choosing a spot
2) Finding an available spot through the notifications tab
3) Finding past spots they've parked in
Concept Testing
We focused on asking users to complete tasks for each key user flow to ensure that the user flows were intuitive and that we had all the features our users were expecting from an informational parking app.
Concept Testing
We focused on asking users to complete tasks for each key user flow to ensure that the user flows were intuitive and that we had all the features our users were expecting from an informational parking app.
Key Concept Testing Takeaways
Key Concept Testing Takeaways
Intuitive user flows
Simplifying some screens to minimize confusion
Adding some new features: button to indicate that they've parked in their chosen spot & adding ways to validate the community posts (ie. through pictures)
Intuitive user flows
Simplifying some screens to minimize confusion
Adding some new features: button to indicate that they've parked in their chosen spot & adding ways to validate the community posts (ie. through pictures)
Mid-Fidelity Prototype
After implementing the feedback from our concept testing, we thought about the issue of distracted driving that was brought up during our feedback session after the ideation phase.
To minimize creating a distraction while driving, we added a navigation system so users weren't having to switch between apps or type the address out if they're using this app while driving.
Additionally, we added an alternative parking spots page to make it easier and less distracting to find another parking spot if the one they're currently navigating to is taken before they arrive.
Mid-Fidelity Prototype
After implementing the feedback from our concept testing, we thought about the issue of distracted driving that was brought up during our feedback session after the ideation phase.
To minimize creating a distraction while driving, we added a navigation system so users weren't having to switch between apps or type the address out if they're using this app while driving.
Additionally, we added an alternative parking spots page to make it easier and less distracting to find another parking spot if the one they're currently navigating to is taken before they arrive.
Usability Testing
We wanted to finalize our user flows and see if there were any other changes we wanted to make before taking these suggestions and feedback to create our high-fidelity prototype.
Usability Testing
We wanted to finalize our user flows and see if there were any other changes we wanted to make before taking these suggestions and feedback to create our high-fidelity prototype.
Key Usability Testing Takeaways
Key Usability Testing Takeaways
Writing community posts while driving could be distracting
Switching between ParkIQ and other navigation apps could be distracting
App is generally easy to understand
Writing community posts while driving could be distracting
Switching between ParkIQ and other navigation apps could be distracting
App is generally easy to understand
High-Fidelity Prototyping
After implementing the feedback from our concept testing, we thought about the issue of distracted driving that was brought up during our feedback session after the ideation phase.
To minimize creating a distraction while driving, we added a navigation system so users weren't having to switch between apps or type the address out if they're using this app while driving.
Additionally, we added an alternative parking spots page to make it easier and less distracting to find another parking spot if the one they're currently navigating to is taken before they arrive.
High-Fidelity Prototyping
After implementing the feedback from our concept testing, we thought about the issue of distracted driving that was brought up during our feedback session after the ideation phase.
To minimize creating a distraction while driving, we added a navigation system so users weren't having to switch between apps or type the address out if they're using this app while driving.
Additionally, we added an alternative parking spots page to make it easier and less distracting to find another parking spot if the one they're currently navigating to is taken before they arrive.
Reflection
For our final week on this project, we briefly presented our final prototype and process, and received feedback. Some things that were pointed out were that we could've spent more time on research for both the problem space and on our users to get a better understanding of how to approach designing our solution.
More user & problem space research!
After reflecting on our final deliverable and feedback we received, I think that by having more time to do more user and problem space research, we would've been able to avoid or reduce a lot of the back-and-forth we went through during the ideation and low fidelity phases. While we were moving forward with the reservation system idea, we struggled a lot with how we'd implement
Reflection
For our final week on this project, we briefly presented our final prototype and process, and received feedback. Some things that were pointed out were that we could've spent more time on research for both the problem space and on our users to get a better understanding of how to approach designing our solution.
More user & problem space research!
After reflecting on our final deliverable and feedback we received, I think that by having more time to do more user and problem space research, we would've been able to avoid or reduce a lot of the back-and-forth we went through during the ideation and low fidelity phases. While we were moving forward with the reservation system idea, we struggled a lot with how we'd implement