Case study: Improving the parking experience for users using design thinking
A design thinking project to identify the differences in the user’s experience and provide effective solutions.
Hey, I’m an electronics engineer by profession. I’ve worked as a graphic designer all through my college years, but I’ve always wanted to learn more about user experience. I started my UX journey when I enrolled myself in the UX mastery course by Growth School under Anudeep Ayyagari. The main aim of this project was to understand users better through the design thinking approach.
We were provided with 11 problem areas to choose from. The idea was to choose a specific region and find any existing gaps in the user’s experience. The users were none other than our teammates since we were already divided into groups of 6-8. My problem area for the project was parking spaces, as it was a region I was not that familiar with.
What problems do people even have with respect to parking spaces? How could I find gaps in user’s experience? What if user’s don’t actively interact with the area?
I knew that I had to keep my assumptions and biases aside and just follow the process to end up with a result. Making errors and learning from them was one of the project’s objectives. Learn to unlearn.
Plan of Action: What is Design Thinking?
Design thinking is a method for better understanding users, empathizing with them, and detecting holes in their experience. This procedure enables us to come up with the best feasible answer to the user’s concerns.
Hence, in order to understand more about the user’s experience with the parking space, these steps were followed
Before moving on to the next stage, it was important for me to remember that I am NOT the user and that I must keep my own perspectives to a minimum so that the insights I gain from my users are not biased.
Empathize 🧐
This was the first stage, the idea was to interview the users regarding their experiences and interactions with parking spaces. I had prepared a set of questions for the interview and made sure they’d be conversational in nature.
This would then allow me to gather insights and identify issues/gaps that even the users would overlook.
My questions are listed below:
1. So tell me a little about yourself, who you are, and what you do? And how would you describe yourself in one word?
2. What type of a house do you live in? Is it an apartment or your own house?
3. How many vehicles do you own? Could you please tell me more about the layout of your house.
3. How accessible is your parking lot? Could you explain in detail as to how you park your vehicles?
4. When you have guests coming over, where do they park their vehicles? Is there any dedicated parking spaces for them?
5. When was the first time you learned to drive, what was your experience like?
6. Could you tell me one thing you like and one thing that you dislike the most about your parking area?
7. When you go out driving how do you go about finding parking for your vehicle?
8. Tell me your worst experience with parking your vehicle?
9. What do you imagine your ideal parking spot to be like?
I was doing everything I could to avoid biasing my users towards answering my questions the way I wanted them to. I was confused and nervous at the first interview, but by the fifth, I had gained confidence in the interviewing process. I learned a lot about my teammates and discovered that users are accustomed to their surroundings and are unable to recognize problems on their own.
After the interviews, I went over my notes and separated their responses and any gaps I could find.
This stage most importantly taught me how to EMPATHIZE with users by listening carefully. The idea was to know the people you’re designing for, so you understand their needs better.
Define ✍
After gathering all of the data from the interview, it was time to sort through all of the information and find any potential problems that the user could have faced.
Unavailability of dedicated parking spot — The problem might be due to inadequate parking spaces or people owning more than one car or no assigned/marked parking spots in general.
Possibility of the car getting scratched — Cars being left unattended, carelessness of ongoing traffic.
Dust collecting on the car — Ongoing traffic/pollution causes dust fly in the air and collect on the vehicles, cars left for a long duration of time.
Person scouting entire area — Due to no dedicated parking spot, parking vehicle changes on daily basis based on availability.
No visitor parking — Parking region might not be equiped to let visitors park their vehicles, or locality doesn’t allow visitors to park inside.
Too many pillars and obstructions — A basic requirement for keeping a structure stable and built, also sometimes used to mark parking spots in the basement (divided parking spots based on the pillar construction)
Parking vehicle far away from destination due to fear of not finding a parking spot — No information on availability of parking in a region or too much crowd gathering thus parking spots being full.
Gate needs to be manually opened and closed by user — No appointed person to open and close the gate, no automation system that opens or closes. User mentioned that they had to manually open the gate everytime they went out or came back home.
Parking signs not being noticible — Placing signs in random region where people can’t notice or having trees that grow over and cover the signs.
The goal was to dive deep into why the user was having this problem and why it was significant. This stage assisted me in determining the causes of typical user issues.
Ideate 💡
After defining the problems faced by the users, now came the time to brainstorm ideas to solve these problems. A method known as ‘Crazy 8’ was used for this. In this procedure, I had to come up with a maximum of 8 solutions in 8 minutes for each of the problem statements.
The solutions were as follows (a total of 21):
Divide/mark parking spots into sections and assign them to utilize every square inch
Underground parking section
Lift to take cars to the terrace and utilize terrace for parking
Setting up foldable or openable or barricades that can go into the ground to divide the parking spot from the main road and also allow vehicles to get out
Multi-level/double decker parking machine
Applying a sort of rubber coating to prevent vehicles to getting scratched
Adding a type of a metal guard around the car that protects it the car from getting scrapped and in turn takes the damage if ever
One full enclosure that comes out of the parking area nearby that fully covers the car and protects it
Proximity sensor alarms that go off the moment any vehicles come too close to the parked vehicle
Use a cover to cover your vehicle thus preventing dust accumulation
Teflon coating on the car
Install water sprinklers on top of to wash the cars occasionally
Use high speed fan blowing air into the car
Sensor that detects a vehicle approaching and opens and closes the gate after scanning RFID chip
Remote controlled gate where user has a remote which they can use to open or close the gate without getting out of the car
Installing a meter outside the gate where the user can use their card and scan it and press a button thus making the gate to open
The gate can have a padding of sort and when a vehicle touches the gate it can flip/rotates around and lets the car in
Place parking signs in more visible regions
A sensor that beeps every time a car is parked in a no parking region (thus letting the driver know that if the car isn’t moved then they shall get fined)
Add a light source that flashes bright on the road sign (bordering the sign)
Make the road sign with a light outline instead of a non illuminated symbol
The top 3 ideas that I finally decided upon were:
1. Setting up foldable or openable barricades that can go into the ground to divide the parking spot from the main road and also allow vehicles to get out — Retractable barricades would help users in locating secure parking locations on the side of the road while also preventing vehicle damage and better-utilizing roads to maximize efficiency.
2. Installing a meter outside the gate where the user can use their card and scan it or press a button thus making the gate open — This solution would allow users to open gates without having to get out of their cars and manually open them, which may be a tiresome operation after a long and exhausting day.
3. Multi-level/double-decker parking machine — A multi-level parking setup would solve the problem of having a lack of dedicated parking spaces.
I went forward with idea 1 for prototying and testing.
This stage demonstrated how we come up with several solutions that individuals may find useful, and to remember that there are no bad ideas!
Prototype 🔨
Problem Statement: Due to lack of parking spaces the user is required to park their car on the side of the road. Design a solution to make sure that the parked vehicle is safe from taking any damage, both light and heavy impact from the nearby ongoing traffic.
After all the research and understanding of the problem, I started to work on my solution. I came up with a solution which was to set up foldable or openable barriers that could be retracted into the ground to separate the parking area from the main road while still allowing vehicles to exit.
The sketches for the initial prototype are shown below
I got the idea for a retractable barrier system from the Bangalore bus lane design, which had pole dividers that separated the main road from the special bus lane.
I selected this concept since it is a widespread problem with a broad target audience. The barricade would be built of strong metal and operated by hydraulics.
The reasons I feel that this is a viable solution:
- This idea makes use of the roadside to enable safe parking
- The above system can prevent cars from taking any heavy damage
- The retractable barricade enables to utilize entire road to minimize traffic jams
Testing 🔬
At this point, we’re ready to put the prototype we’ve created to the test. By testing, we mean, getting feedback on it.
The following was the feedback that I received:
“What happens if the car is parked on top of the barricade, erecting the barricade would result in a disaster, causing the car to topple over.” — I hadn’t thought about this situation at all. It was a very valid observation.
“What if someone riding a bike or scooter were to hit the barricade, wouldn’t that cause major accidents?” —I felt that careless riders in general may cause an accident by colliding with any solid object on the road. However, the colour could be bright and reflectors added to make the poles stand out more.
“Why would say the local administration install this in their localities, it would be an unnecessary expense” — The administration could monetise this system by charging the users hourly for secure parking.
“What would happen if the road were to get replaced tomorrow?” — Once the roads were to be restored, these systems would have to be dug up and each pole then be re-buried. However, it was agreed that this would be inconvenient.
“Wouldn’t opening the doors onto the pole scratch the doors again?” — This was another valid problem identified by one of the users. One alternative would be to treat the polls with a rubber coating to prevent scratches on the doors.
Despite all of the constructive feedback I got, users seemed to like the solution and could envision it being adopted.
Revised prototype
Following the feedback I received, I recognized some of the crucial elements that I wanted to include in my design.
- To help the user understand the area in which the car must be parked, markings need to be placed on the ground
- Adding sensors to the main system to prevent the barricade to go up if the car is not parked correctly
- Change the color of the poles and add reflectors to make the poles stand out more
- Divide the system into units, thus making it easier to remove and rebury
As in the previous prototype, the general layout remains the same, with the additional changes such as
- The poles are bright orange in color with added reflectors, making them stand out
- Distinct markers have been placed on the ground to show users where their car must be parked
- Treat the polls with a rubber coating to prevent scratches if the doors are opened into the pole
- Additional sensors are incorporated to prevent the barricades to go up if the car isn’t parked properly
- The individual poles are now grouped to form unit systems, which makes them easier to remove and rebury
Future Scope:
Designing is a never-ending process, there is always room for improvement. No solution is perfect.
The system may feature a mechanism that retracts the barricade automatically every time the user goes out. I’d look for ways to make these pole dividers safer. In the event that the system fails, it should be easier to replace the unit. Also adding flashing red lights on the top of the pole would make these dividers distinctly visible at night.
My learnings
One of the most important lessons I’ve taken away from this project is that I’m not the user, and I should do my best to keep my own prejudices aside while addressing problems.
I genuinely enjoyed interviewing my users and learned that asking questions in a certain manner leads to a certain sort of response which can help you gain better insights.
Finally, I learned that the solution does not have to fix all of the user’s problems. The solution must be simple, efficient, and it must be improved depending on user feedback.
Special thanks to my mentor, Anudeep Ayyagari for guiding me in this case study.
Thank you for reading! If you liked this article let me know in the comments! All feedback is heartily welcome and you can email me at adityapani99@gmail.com
