ROLE:
UI Design, UX Research
DURATION:
10 weeks
TEAM:
(5) Camille Forster, Janiya Garner, Barrett Light, Van Ma
Overview:
Parking in Chicago can be stressful, costly, and confusing, exacerbating already negative perceptions of city privatized parking. We saw opportunities in the Park Chicago app to alleviate stress that comes from this experience. How can we better support users' financial needs and use design to signify a move towards a more equitable future for parking?
Goals:
> Reduce financial barriers to parking as much as possible
> Modernize UI through an updated design system
> Increase accessibility by ensuring WCAG compliance
We interviewed 11 users of the Park Chicago app with the goal of learning:
What frustrates users while parking (not limited to just with the app)
How the Park Chicago app helps relieve pain points or contributes to them.
In addition to talking to users about their general parking experience, we also asked them to walk us through how they use the Park Chicago to park.
These interviews helped us develop personas and use cases to guide our process.
INSIGHT #1:
INSIGHT #3:
INSIGHT #2:
INSIGHT #4:
INSIGHT #5:
INSIGHT #6:
Some regular users noted that they are "used to" the app and would be wary if extreme changes were made.
Our redesign process consisted of a few stages:
Develop requirements for our redesign
Sketches and low fidelity screens for brainstorming and team alignment
Development of a design system
INSIGHT #1:
Users wanted more payment method options and disliked being forced to reload their account by $20 each time it ran out.
SOLUTION:
Add additional payment methods to the checkout process. If not possible, remove the initial $20 deposit necessary during the signup onboarding.
INSIGHT #2:
App interface is outdated and cluttered, lacks visual hierarchy.
SOLUTION:
Remove cluttered text to reveal only when applicable to the user.
Use intentional icons for scan-ability
INSIGHT #3:
Users found it difficult to find available spaces, often circling the block to find one. The Park Chicago Parking app is separate from the Park Chicago app used for payment and only 1 user knew it existed.
SOLUTION:
Integrate the parking map directly into the Park Chicago app so that it is discoverable and useful but not obtrusive to users who may not use it.
INSIGHT #4:
When first using the app users reported low/mixed confidence with correct zone selection and parking rules.
SOLUTION:
Add a confirmation screen with a map that shows the zone the user selected, giving users the ability to double check they have selected the right zone adding a layer of error prevention and recovery and boosting user confidence.
INSIGHT #5:
Some users reported having trouble extending their parking sessions or missing the end of their parking time due to poor notification from the app.
SOLUTION:
Make it easy for users to check their parking session time and extend it in app.
INSIGHT #2: Keep the balance
Both users felt the payment process was simple and straightforward. The frequent user noted that she likes reloading and paying with a balance because that is what she does daily, so removing it in our redesign was a pain point for her.
Recommendation: Continue offering multiple payment options, including saved cards for pay per session method and keep balance option for flexibility.
INSIGHT #3: Make the map easily understandable
Both users did not initially understand what the colors on the map signified
Recommendation: Enhance visual cues, add map marker clarity (map legend) to better communicate distances and zones.
Reflection
Context is important: in what situations are users interacting with an app? What emotional states or other factors need to be kept in mind when designing? Ideally we would have conducted our contextual interviews while users are actively paying for parking so we can best understand their emotions and routine.
Disruptive design changes can erode user trust: while the changes we made to the app felt necessary and a stark improvement to us, testing our prototype with an everyday user showed us that changes can be disruptive to a user routines. I want to keep this in mind when redesigning systems in the future.
