parking app 2

8/13/2019 Parking App 2

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PARK ME | A PARKING SOLUTION


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TABLE OF CONTENTS


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Problem

Awareness

Users

Research Plan

Results

Usability Test

Solution 1

Final Solution

Site Architecture

Wireframes

Final Mock-up


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THE PROBLEM


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Problems:

1. Which streets have parking for the general public

2. Where there are available spots on those streets

A lot of time and effort is put into finding a parking a spot. For

pass buyers, the first wtime searching for a spot is not easy since

the sectioning of campus is confusing. Buying a pass allows you

to park on certain streets, which requires you to remember all of

those individual street names.

For non-pass buyers, people dont know which streets are for the

general public and which are only for people with passes. Theyhave to spend time driving up and down each street to figure out.

The street signs can be misinterpretted because of the complex

rules.

People who forget about street sweep days get their car towed

and they have to spend time to retrieve it from the impound lot.

Instances that parking can be an issue:

1. Returning from Holidays

2. Running an errand

3. Leaving for a trip

4. Returning after a street sweep or a football game

5. Leaving for a school reason


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CURRENT EXPERIENCE


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Awareness

Days such as game days pack large amounts of people within the

small campus area. On these days there are a lot of people need

to find a parking spot which leads to backed up traffic and wasted

time. The growth of the population in the Off-Campus is morethan the streets were built to hold.

It is annoying to have to remember to move my car, on top of my

busy college lifestyle.

People dont always park logically. There are instances I could

have parked somewhere if the person in front would have moved

their car up a couple feet. All the spots are parallel parking spots.

What I want to know

Im not sure why some of the streets are free and some arent.

The unawareness for the user without a pass can leave themsearching in the wrong area, causing lost time and effort.


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Users

We specifically are focusing on users related to The Ohio State

University for this research. This idea can spread to other areas and

universities with the ability to be slightly altered to meet the needs

of the users in those areas.

1. The Students, Staff, and Faculty such as commuters, off-campus

residents, and non-pass owners.

2. The non-students such as vistors, tourist, etc.

Some students live on the Off-Campus and use the street parking

as the main source of parking. Other students park their cars there

to go to class if they dont have a parking pass with the university.

Some staff and faculty also park there if the dont have passes.

The other group of people consists of non-students such as

visitors, future students, parents, etc. These people are usuallyunfamiliar with the area and need direction. The off campus parking

does not provide this and can lead visitors to be lost.

We dont like to waste time and effort.


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RESEARCH PLAN


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Intended Conclusion

To understand the exact problem, we need to understand the quantity

and quality of the time and effort wasted. Does it annoy people enough

and often enough to result in other ways of parking; paying for a pass

or a day pass in a garage? The solution should make street parking on

the off-campus at Ohio State a better experience for all the users.

We need to meet the users and understand their current experience.

From here we can co-design with them to find the ultimate solution

to this problem. When parking is a hassle, why is it a hassle, are there

personal stories to share?

Research Methods

For the time span of this project, we will only be able to complete

evaluative research and investigate their current experience of otherapplication that are simular instead of experiential research.

Observations: Immerse ourselves into the off-campus environment to

see the parking frustrations in person.

Semi-Structured Interviews: There are questions that need to be

answered but there are also a lot of good answers that can come from

causal conversations with our users.

Surveys: We can send this out to the large participant pool; which

consists of all students, staff, and faculty that use off-campus parking.


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Observations

To understand the problem more, we needed to immerse ourselves

into the field. This way we could see the experiences of people trying

to parking first handed.

There were multiple times where people would attempt to park in a

spot and then give up because the spot was either not large enough

or they were lacking the skill to parallel park. This problem could be

solved if some of the vehicles were moved a couple of inches forward

or backward. A possible solution could be marked out parking spots

to reduce the amount of random space between cars that sacrafice

parking spots.

There were also multiple times that vehicles would circle the streetsmultiple times in hopes that someone would move in that time. Some

vehicles would pull up in a spot where their car was partly behind the

no parking sign.

The general mood of the people that seemed to spend a lot of time

and effort parking was frustrated and rushed. I can conclude that these

people dont allot out the time in their schedule to find parking spots

and therefore are rushed to their next appointment, class, etc.

From my observations, I also can conclude that there are more vehicles

that need parking spots than there are parking spots available.

Level of Difficulty

easy 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 difficult

Quality of Results

low 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 high

Quantity of Results

low 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 high

Level of Time/Effort Required

little 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 alot


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Surveys

The survey asked the users to identify their role at Ohio State, how

often the park east of High Street, their feeligns on the street parking,

if they own a street parking pass and their feelings on it, their biggest

annoyances about street parking, and any other comments.

Most of the participants were students at Ohio State. The range of

days that they park on east of High ranged from 1 -7 days a week. Over

half of these students do not own parking passes. The results showed

that there were a lot of annoyances ith off-street parking, not just one.

People dislike the time and effort spent in off-campus parking, parallel

parking, the rules, the amount of spots, and the irregular parking; as

seen in my observations. People think its unsafe and are worried aboutsomething happening to their cars after they park it. Special rules such

as moving cars for football and street sweeping become a huge hassle

because it limits the spots even more.

Level of Difficulty

easy 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 difficult

Quality of Results

low 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 high

Quantity of Results

low 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 high

Level of Time/Effort Required

little 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 alot


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USABILITY TESTING


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Intended Conclusion

I want to understand what makes simular parking solutions successful

and unsuccessful. Why are students not using these now and is there

something out there that already solves the issue of the street parking

on the off-campus of Ohio State. If the current materials dont help, can

they be improve to help or is a new design solution needed?

Findings:

1. Required profiles on an app are frowned upon and logging in while

driving is difficult.

2. Open search results are too broad

3. Be simple! Because this app is used while driving a car, or at least

inside of a car, the navigation must be simple enough to use when

only paying half attention. Also, to reduce TIME and effort, an app that

requires a lot of time to use would be redundant.4. Can an app solve parking? No, its only the interface to something

greater.

Overview of the Test:

Moderator Introduction: I give the directions and things to remember.

The user is reminded that this is not a test.

Pre-Test: This consists of a couple of questions to get the user thinking.

Tasks: A few tasks are given that leads the user through a simular app

while asking questions along the way.

Debrief: Some conclusions are asked and a survey is given.


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Conclusion

The app that was used for the testing was designed

to find open parking garages/meters and how to find

your car once you are ready. The participants all said

that the app was pretty easy to use and they would

maybe use it. No one thought it was an app they

would download unless they absolutely needed it. It

wasnt something that would make their lives easier.

Also this app would not solve the street parking

problem because it only finds available parking in

garages and meters.


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SOLUTION ONE


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Native Mobile App

The app would have multiple apps within it like the The Ohio State

Universties app. You could reserve spots and give notifications on

towing days. Also the app would allow users to create profiles for

different cars.

Why mobile?

People always have their phones while traveling and have a personal

connection with it. They would feel comfortable giving the app

information about their vehicles for the profiles.

The GPS connection on the phone would be helpful to find the area the

users are looking for a spot in.

FeaturesHold times will depend on the distance of the rest stops to avoid using

the phone while driving. Notifications will be sent to the phone if the

car is being towed or on days it needs to be moved. On the main

screen you will know where your car is. Red indicates it needs to be

moved, yellow indicates a reserved spot, and green indicates where

your vehile is without any problems. FAQ explanis OSU game days,

different parts of campus, etc.


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WIREFRAMES


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Native Mobile App

This concept is too complicated. Users may shy away from the app

becase they have to make a profile. The workflow of the app needs

to be shortend so people can use it when their driving. Reserving a

spot may be a good idea but could also cause complications unless

a system is created to a lot out permanent spaces.

An app is a good solution but something more needs to exist to

provide more structure to the off-campus area. There needs to be

a structure that stays consistant throughout the campus to ensure

that people know where and when to park.

People do not want to spend the time, nor the hassle and wasted

hope on turning onto the street if there are no spots. Off-Campus

is easily defined, the streets are marked, but how does that save

the time and hassle put into parking? Making it easier to visualize

which streets are free and which streets the user is allowed to

parking on, they can go straight to those areas.


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FINAL SOLUTION


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The Ticker

The ticker is placed right above the street sign since people are usually

looking in this direction anyway to navigate themselves through the

streets. It displays the number of spots available on each street,

Tickers will be placed at the beginning of every main street. They will

only be placed at the beginning of each street because the distance

between alley ways is not large enough to be significant.

The Native Mobile App

The mobile app is to help people find spots before they get to campus.

For pass users, it shows them their available spots and for non-pass

owners, it shows where there are free spots for the general public.

FeaturesThe streets are divided up strategically and the streets have permanent

spots to make sure that the spots can be tracked and the max amount

of spots will be available,


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Growth

If the streets were to widen or change in the future,

new spots can be created but still leave the ticker

unaffected. (e.g. the street goes under construction and

the result is a wider street with more parking area. Once

the spots are marked, a sensor can be applied).

Basics

Every street will have marked parking spots. Each

spot will sensor if a car is parked in the spot which

will then trigger a sensor to change the ticker.

Reasoning

With actual spots, an exact number can be listed

on the ticker. Otherwise, cars could take up

multiple spots and not set off the sensor, giving

users a false answer via ticker.


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Growth

With time, the Off-Campus area will most likely

expand more south, especially with the introduction of

the Gateway. For growth, more sections can easily be

added on without changing the current ones. (e.g, 9th,

8th, and 7th will become orange).

The area cannot expand more west because of The

Ohio State Universitys defined campus area. If the areaexpands more west, the streets will remain the same

colors since the sections run perpendicular to High

Street. (e.g. 12th dead ends into a rail road tracks)

Basics

Off-Campus is defined as 4th Street to High Street

(East to West) and from Norwich Avenue to 10th

Avenue (North to South). Its also sectioned into 5

even sections. High Street and roads parallel to High

Street are free. Any streets perpendicular to High Street

require a pass.

ReasoningCurrently, even with experience with living on campus,

knowing which streets require passes arent clear. By

sectioning off streets with common ideas (parallel,

perpendicular), people can easily remember and explain

to their visitors where to park. Its easier to remember

generally which streets are free, rather than attempting

to remember which specific streets.

Norwich Avenue, Lane Avenue, Frambes Avenue

High Street, Summit Street, Indianola Avenue, 4th Street

Woodruff Avenue, 20th Avenue, 19th Avenue, 18th Avenue, Iuka

17th Avenue, 16th Avenue, 15th Avenue,

13th Avenue, 14th Avenue

11th Avenue, Chittenden Avenue, 12th Avenue


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Basics

The number of spots available on the street is displayed on the

sign. As spots are taken, a sensor sends a message to the ticker to

change the number automatically. The sign is large enough to see

from far away since the user that will need to use this ticker will be

concentrating on driving. The ticker is placed right above the street

sign since people are usually looking in this direction anyway to

navigate themselves through the streets.

Ticker Locations

Tickers will be placed at the beginning of every main street. They will

only be placed at the beginning of each street because the distance

between alley ways is not large enough to be significant. The parallel

streets will have tickers at the beginning of every section. Again, the

distance between every street isnt significant enough.


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Main Navigation

The navigation is simple enough to use while driving. The find location button makes it easier

for users to search spaces around them without staring at the phone too long.The limited options

for search results to pick from under the pick a street and pick a pass area narrows down

the options for the users. With limited options, the user will not become distracted by attempting

to remember a street or understanding what the app needs to supply search results.The red

indications on the map show parking spots because red can easily catch the eye. The app not only

supplies the same information that the ticker does (if there are spots) but where the spots are at

exactly. This way, the user can concentrate on navigating to a certain location and not become

distracted by looking everywhere but straight in front of them

The Profile

I decided earlier in my research that a profile would be hard to use while driving. However, with the

advice from others and additional research, users would like a way for the app to remember their

pass areas or where they usually search.

Thus.......

The profile aspect of the app is not required. However, once a profile is created, the user can set

two things:

1. Their pass area

2. Where they would like the phone to automatically scroll to when turned on. For example, if the

user wanted the app to show them the parking spots around 15th Avenue everytime they logged

in, it would override their current location.

The users can request to remain logged in if desired to avoid logging in everytime they are driving.

This would increase the safety of the user while using the app.


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Logomain

main screen

#

#

you arehere

searcha street

searchw/ pass

Logo

High Street

11th Avenue

10th Avenue

12th Avenue

13th Avenue

14th Avenue

15th Avenue

16th Avenue

Logo

5t Avenue

Logo

Blue

Green

Red

Purple

Orange

urple

#

Logo

#

you are

here

search

a street

search

w/ pass

you arehere

searcha street

searchw/ pass you are

here

search

a street

search

w/ pass

you arehere

searcha street

searchw/ pass

earc

tree

earc

w pas


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PARK ME

parking app 2

Documents