Through intercept interviews, we discovered that the small, confusing SLZ sign is often overlooked, leading to a lack of knowledge of SLZs. People either avoid the space since they don’t know what it is, or misuse it since they don’t understand the rules of SLZs.
Smart Loading Zone Dynamic Sign & WebApp
Overview
Smart Loading zones, or “SLZs”, are popping up all over the country—including Pittsburgh, where this project took place. They are multi-use parking spots for both cars and trucks. SLZs are meant to reduce traffic and double-parking by offering a quick spot for cars to park for a short period of time, or a place a truck can unload their goods. The space is marked by a purple curb and small purple sign that has details about parking.
The Brief
Automotus and Pittsburgh Parking Authority wanted to explore how to improve Smart Loading Zones, since they were currently an experimental pilot study.
Discovery
Research into the Problem Space
I started by performing background research on SLZs and analyzing data that was provided to us by the Pittsburgh Parking Authority. While this helped uncover the problem, it didn't explain why the problem was occurring. To discover this, my team and I conducted intercept interviews on the streets of Pittsburgh with drivers parked near, or at, SLZs.
Current State
Insight 01
There is a lack of accessible information for users to inform them on SLZ uses and goals
On average, every month in Pittsburgh
770
Vehicles that park at SLZs
140
K
vehicles driving on streets with SLZs
Based on data from Pittsburgh Parking Authority
I noticed the purple curb but I don't know what it is
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—Private Driver
Despite high vehicle traffic in areas with SLZs, there are low park events per month. People are not using smart loading zones often.
Insight 02
There is a conflict of SLZ use cases between private drivers and commercial drivers
&
Insight 03
The mental model users have with conventional parking does not match how SLZs charge users and are enforced.
Additionally,
87
%
of park events were cars
36
Vehicles parked for over 2 hours
124
Vehicles double-parked at SLZs
Based on data from Pittsburgh Parking Authority
When a single car parks there, I cannot park and have to find somewhere else
—Truck Driver
Clearly, smart loading zones are not being used as intended. Cars use smart loading zones a disproportionate amount, the average park time per month was longer than expected, and some users were double-parking in the space, misusing it and causing the very problem SLZs were trying to solve.
In addition, cars and trucks have very different use cases for smart loading zones. Cars park there sporadically, 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 improve people’s understanding of SLZs to:
Increase usage
Reduce misconceptions
Balance conflicting interests
Final Solution
Dynamic Sign & Web App
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 Price Calculation & Elapsed Time 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 is currently difficult since the rate changes based on elapsed time. This also means the public can see the total time the user has parked for, which, based on user testing, motivates users to use SLZs for shorter time periods.
Easy Payment Web App
Quick, with minimal personal data input required. 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.
A closer look
The 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.
Crazy 8s & Storyboards
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. Private drivers need to know what SLZs are. Drivers need convenient short-term parking spaces. We quickly ideated many designs, then conducted storyboarding sessions with different private drivers.
My Storyboards
All of our storyboards combined 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. Altogether, people liked the way our sign conveyed information and found it easy to understand. The web app was quick and intuitive to use with no errors by users. The only major worry users had 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.
How we Helped our Client
Outcomes
Our designs were meant to increase the amount of people using SLZs, which would drive up revenue for Automotus and Pittsburgh Parking Authority. This would be done by making the sign easier to see and understand, so that people would notice SLZs, learn about them, and feel empowered to park in them. The payment process would also be easier and match the user's current mental model of a paid parking space more closely.
While implementing our dynamic sign and web app were out of the scope of this graduate project, we can take findings from the usability tests to gauge if our designs achieved our goals. The results from our high-fidelity prototype showed people found them informative, intuitive, and quick to use.
