The Project
Parkpoolr is a vehicle parking finder mobile application that I worked on as a part of my graduation project at the company called Fountane. As an interaction designer, I designed this project from inception to final design through research , ideation and UX design principles.
Duration: 6 months
Methods: Surveys, Interviews, Card Sort, Affinity Mapping, Preference Test, Wireframes, Prototyping
Context
Imagine getting stuck in traffic and running late for your favorite music concert and finally when you get there you are out of parking spot. This could be very frustrating for anyone. You could also be late to an event just while looking for a place to park your car.
There are many people who have a lot of free space in their front yard that could be rented to such people who are looking for a spot to park especially on busy days. Parkpoolr is an app that connects these to cases and make parking more easier assuring and time saving.
The Process
Research
Competitive analysis
To get a better understanding of the competitor landscape, I conducted analyses on two of the most popular parking finder apps on the market, and found that while both provided a lot of ways to search for areas, some methods were time taking. This could prove to be ;ess efficient for some users, especially those new to driving.
Surveys & Interviews
With the goal of understanding how landlords were willing to utilize the extra space in their front yard, if drivers would trust their vehicle at a strangers house, and the issues they might face, I surveyed 30 landlords and drivers. I wanted to understand how the people’s answers would vary depending on their trust level, so I separated my findings by users that were very Willing, Intermediate and Skeptical.
Key Findings & Insights
The surveys and interviews helped me understand more about the needs and frustrations of my users, and I was able to pull a few key findings that would help shape my project.
Define
Defining Statement
Drivers need a way to easily find a parking space in the neighborhood of the event they are attending. The app must build trust between the the two users and it must be close by, at reasonable pricing, time saving and quickly accessible.
Goal
To create a quick parking experience with a piece of mind by pre-booking slots according to your convenient time and money
Experience Mapping
Experiences covered- Login and account creating, booking, payment, verification and feedback. This is the interlink between the stakeholders
The experiences of these 3 stakeholders over.
lap mainly at account creation and verification,
booking and payment.
Goal
To create a quick parking experience with a piece of mind by pre-booking slots according to your convenient time and money
Experience Mapping
Experiences covered- Login and account creating, booking, payment, verification and feedback. This is the interlink between the stakeholders
The experiences of these 3 stakeholders over.
lap mainly at account creation and verification,
booking and payment.
Persona Mapping
Drivers need a way to easily find a parking space in the neighborhood of the event they are attending. The app must build trust between the the two users and it must be close by, at reasonable pricing, time saving and quickly accessible.
Dave
Age
Location
Occupation
Education
Status
19
Austin, USA
Not job
Student at Austin university
Single
About
Dave is an aspiring musician. He recently moved to Austin 2 weeks ago to learn and pursue his career in music. He is currently taking classes and sit by himself and practices whenever he gets time from his university classes.He recently saw a poster about his favorite artist performing in the city that Friday. He wants to attend the concert soon after his class
Goals
To be able to find a way to attend the concert on time, with a fresh mind. Dve wants to see his favorite singer sing and take notes.
Motivation
PASSION
FINDING FRIENDS
FUN
Needs
-> Dave wants to get to the event on time as soon as his school finishes.
-> Dave wants to carry his guitar with him to practice later at friends house
-> He needs to keep a cool head space in order to enjoy the event.
-> Reach early to find a parking space and get some drink.
Challenges
-> Dave wants to drive by himself and not rely on others.
-> Safety on the guitar
-> Does not want to spend too much money.
-> Since he is new to the city he needs to find his way to reach destination.
Mental Models
Using all of the research collected, I created a mental model for each user persona in order to understand how the user might interact with the app, and to create a more intuitive user experience.
Scenario
Dave is a young aspiring musician and he wants to attend a new concert 15miles away from his home. Now due to heavy traffic he was running late and he has no time to search for a parking spot. Due to his past experiences he choose to use parkpoolr to look for a nearest and cheap parking spot and pre-book it. Now he can focus on arriving to the fest on time and not worry about finding a parking spot.
Phase 1
To fine the event easily
Phase 2
To find a parking spot within 200m radius of event
Phase 3
To book a spot easily
Task
Download and open app
Sign up optional
Search for the event
using search bar.
Thoughts
“Good thing it does not ask me to sign up yet. I want to check if the event shoes on this app first.”
“What if it does not show the event I am looking for”
Emotion
Task
Select the event you are looking for.
Look at the spots around the event.
Select the one nearest and cheap.
See owner details.
Thoughts
“Lets look for something cheap. Make sure it is close enough”
“Can I trust the landlord with my car?”
“This guy’s parking space looks perfect for my car”
Emotion
Task
View the profile rating.
Read the terms and agreement.
Make a decision.
Thoughts
“This guy seems nice.”
“All that matters is getting a spot. I am sure the app looks after my safety”
“I am happy I could pre-book my spot but i am nervous to use since it is my first time”
Emotion
Positive
Negetive
User Flow and Task Analysis
Finally, I created a task analysis and user flow for each persona. This gave me a clear picture of the steps that the user would need to take to get to their final goal, and how to deliver this goal in the most effective manner possible.
Goal- to provide the user with all the events possible and make sure he/she can explore and find easily.
Goal- to provide the user with all the events possible and make sure he/she can explore and find easily.
Goal- to help the user complete his task with minimus steps along with the payment
Goal- to understand the various causes for time extensions inorder to improve the service
Ideate
Low Fidelity Wireframes
Since simplicity and ease of use are one of the biggest aims of Vela, the number of screens were kept to a minimum and I wanted to focus on highlighting the core features. I started with pen and paper wireframes, and created multiple versions of each screen until I found a combination of features and elements that I thought
Test
Usability Testing
This phase was the game changer - by conducting usability tests, I was able to refine what users were finding useful, and completely change up what they didn't react well to.The users were asked to complete a few scenario-based tasks that would test the main features of the app, and were asked how they felt about the app in general. The results of the usability tests were recorded and analysed using a rainbow spreadsheet and an affinity map.
Key Findings
I made notes of the positive and negative feedback, so that I knew what areas to keep
expanding upon and what needed to be reworked,
Positive
Negative
1. Users were able to complete task quickly
2. Users enjoyed the concept of setting up the price.
3. Navigation proved easy for users to understand.
1. Users were confused with the transaction layout.
2. Users had some trouble finding the right location.
3. Users found text and icons to be too small.
Iterate
Design Changes
I made changes based on the user feedback and then reached out for additional
feedback from some fellow designers. I created a newer, high-fidelity version of the app that featured more white space, larger icons and clearer text.
To this design, I applied the Gestalt Principles, color theory and made use of grids to ensure consistency within the app.
Accessibility
To these changes, I also added a few of my own after conducting some research on
accessibility in design in order to meet WCAG requirements.
1. Placeholders vs Labels-
Originally. Vela's sign up and log in screens made use of placeholders instead of labels. Now, each form input field has its own label, and the placeholder text provides an example for what the user should type.
2. Adding an indicator state
Originally, the only way for users to know which input field they had clicked on would be
the flashing text cursor. Now, the border of the selected input field has been highlighted
in a darker color in order to show the user where they have clicked and where they will be typing.
Design System Language
Lastly, I created a design system language that could be followed in the future to ensure consistency throughout the app. Click here to see the full document.
Final Product
After many tests and iterations, my final product aligned with all of the objectives I had set in place - it includes the three core features necessary to create quick parking experience which simple to use and visually appealing design.
Click here to view the final prototype
Click here to view a video demonstration of the app.
Challenges
My biggest challenge was a struggle with the data visualization for my nearest and cheap parking spots available. My usability tests proved that the entire screen was just too small, and there was too much information for users to property comprehend. Since showing the parking spots to choose from are the main feature of the app, I spent a lot of time creating iterations that would provide the users with data that was easy to understand, that also was also displayed beautifully. This pushed back my timeline somewhat, and I could not spend enough time on some other aspects of the design, such as iconography.
Retrospective