Smart Loading Zone Dynamic Sign & WebApp
People are not noticing the signs in specialized parking spaces, and misusing the spots as a result. We were tasked with coming up with a design to fix this problem
The Problem Space
Smart Loading zones, or “SLZs”, are popping up all over the country—including Pittsburgh, where my team for this project was located. They are parking spots for both cars and trucks, meaning they can help a variety of different users. The space is marked by a small purple sign that has details about parking. They were implemented to reduce traffic and car emissions by eliminating double parking—drivers can quickly park in the SLZ instead. However, our research found that the sign is often overlooked, leading to people avoiding the space since they don’t know what it is, or misusing the space since they don’t understand the rules of SLZs. In addition, cars and trucks have very different use cases for smart loading zones. Cars are typically sporadic and spontaneous, while trucks require precise timing to unload their goods. If a car is occupying the space when a truck is scheduled for a delivery, the truck must park elsewhere, often double-parking and blocking traffic.
How might we design for two very different problems: discoverability, and users with conflicting goals?
The Solution
We designed a dynamic sign that has both static and moving parts to effectively convey information and maximize efficiency. Key information is displayed at the top: the large P and bright purple coloring will draw people’s attention, while the strong visual hierarchy emphasizes that there is free parking for 15 minutes. The middle of the sign changes based on if the user chooses to park in the spot. It displays elapsed time and the total amount of money charged, while highlighting the current rate. Finally, a QR code was added to the bottom, which we made very large so that users wouldn’t miss it.
Real-Time Elapsed Time & Cost Display
Displaying the elapsed time and total cost reduces the cognitive load of users, while also putting slight pressure on them to move out of the space. They no longer have to calculate costs in their head, which would be difficult since the rate changes based on elapsed time. This also means the public can see their elapsed time, which, based on our research, motivates users to use SLZs for shorter time periods. Since SLZs are meant to be spaces for quick in-and-out activities, this design aligns with the goals of SLZs
Easy Payment WebApp
We designed the interaction to be quick and ask for minimal personal data. All of the relevant information is displayed for users to see. Within a few clicks, users can pay what they owe. At the end of the process, if the user wants to learn more about SLZs and their purpose, they can click the link. This way, learning more about SLZs is not a nuisance—the user can learn about them whenever they have time.
Additionally, we designed an app specifically for commercial vehicle drivers, since they have different priorities than private drivers. Once users sign up with CurbPass, they can choose a date, time, and duration that they will be parking. Once booked, it will give them directions to that specific SLZ, if needed. This allows SLZs to better accommodate trucks who need to reserve the space for specific periods of time to unload goods.
Reserved Display
When the space is reserved, the electronic portion of the sign will show the reserved display 30 minutes before the reservation goes into effect. The large crossed-out P, and high-contrast red text will catch people’s attention so they know the space is reserved. The date and time of the reservation is also listed.
Design Process
Secondary Research
Before we began designing, we first started by doing background research and understanding the problem space. The Pittsburgh Parking Authority, a stakeholder in SLZs, supplied us with data from the past few years that we could analyze.
While I predicted park events to be higher than registered accounts, since one account can be responsible for multiple parking events, the ratio was unnaturally skewed. Park events were mostly above ten thousand per month, while in some months, there were less than 10 active accounts. This suggests people were using the zones to park without having an account. In addition, cars accounted for almost 90% of park events. The space is supposed to be shared by all types of vehicles, yet cars use the space a disproportionate amount.
Our next step was performing intercept interviews. We created two sets of questions for private drivers and commercial drivers, respectively. Our team split into pairs and waited by different SLZs, interviewing anyone willing who parked at the purple curb. Once we finished our interviews, we created an affinity diagram.
We had our findings grouped, with broader themes extracted from them, but what does it all mean? We created insights to guide us through the rest of the project:
There is a lack of accessible information for users to inform them on SLZ uses and goals
There is a conflict of SLZ use cases between private drivers and commercial drivers
The mental model users have with conventional parking does not match how SLZs charge users and are enforced.
Ideation
The next stage used divergent thinking to rapidly create a broad range of design ideas. Based on the insights, we conducted crazy 8s to explore many different design ideas and see which addressed our problem space the best. We began by identifying key user needs: commercial drivers need available spaces at specific times. Drivers need to know what SLZs are. Drivers need convenient short-term parking spaces. Guided by these tenets, we quickly ideated many designs, then conducted storyboarding sessions with different private drivers.
My storyboards
Our group's combined storyboards were diverse, testing ideas ranging from small design changes to extremely risky scenarios. Through these sessions, we found: users want easily digestible information, whether it be via app or sign, users are concerned about giving up too much data, and users were more worried about time spent parking than paying. With the insights, user needs, and additional information gathered, we settled on general design concepts.
We decided a dynamic sign would best fit our goals—static parts can convey unchanging information, and shifting information can be actively displayed to the user. We also wanted to make the checkout process easier and less invasive. Instead of the current process of making an account with CurbPass, which has multiple pages and asks for too much personal information, we streamlined the process. Users can quickly scan the QR code and pay with their phone, with no account or app required.
Usability Testing
Our group conducted usability tests with both our low-fidelity and high fidelity prototypes. Our first iteration was low-fidelity and low-stakes--it was a temperature check to see how people would react to our design. We made a physical prototype of the sign and a paper prototype of our payment app. We stood outside near the street, since the sidewalk environment matched the typical location for SLZs, and it was easier to recruit our target demographic: people living in Pittsburgh who owned cars. For the most part, people understood our designs, their purpose, and the information they were meant to convey.
These tests were key for refining and iterating on our design. Small points of confusion surfaced, like wondering if "your current time" was how much time had elapsed, or how much time was left. Was 15 minute parking always free? What was the total the user had to pay? Questions like these impact the user's understanding of the parking space, which can influence their decision to use SLZs. We made changes to the high-fidelity prototype based on these findings.
Our second round of usability testing took place in a similar environment near a street. This time, in addition to private drivers, we also dedicated extra time to find a truck driver as a participant. The only major worry was if they would be continuously charged for time while they were filling out their payment information. This could be mitigated by giving them the option to pay at a later time, like when they get home. Overall, this round of usability testing validated all of the research, insights, and design decisions we had made. People found our high-fidelity prototype informative, intuitive, and quick to use.
