Role Sole product designer
tools Adobe Illustrator, Figma, Google Forms, Miro
disclosure This project was created purely to demonstrate my skills and knowledge in the field, without any connection to a real company or product.
introducing
SmartPark is a redesigned parking meter application that revolutionizes the way you pay for parking by using a reimagined touch screen, unlike traditional parking meters, and an easy-to-follow process driven by basic UX principles, user feedback, and user testing.
For as long as I've lived on Long Island, a tiny fish-shaped island just east of New York City, I can't recall one pleasant experience at a parking meter. Can anyone? Parking meters have always been the bane of my existence, and I'm sure many others would say the same. The problem stemmed from the design-flawed user interface and overall structure.
Individuals spent time grappling with the process of operating the haphazardly designed parking meter.
The Town of Islip community needs a solution that incorporates a user-friendly interface that makes paying for parking seamless.
How bad is this problem really? To gauge users' experiences using the existing parking meters, 20 Town of Islip residents were surveyed.
The steps on how to pay for parking are confusing and time-consuming.
When it’s time to pay, users don’t know where to look on the meter to continue.
Entering the amount of time to park is the most difficult step to users.
The parking meter is not useful to non-English speakers.
Most users think an entirely new machine with a touchscreen would be easier to use.
The screen is difficult to see.
Solution: Reduce cognitive load
Solution: Grouping related elements to give meaning
Solution: Implement accessibility-focused features
The research findings impacted the direction. The sketches evolved into wireframes, which eventually became a low-fidelity prototype.
1: Start
Solution: Reduce cognitive load
Solution: Grouping related elements to give meaning
Solution: Implement accessibility-focused features
2: Choose payment
Solution: Grouping related elements to give meaning
Solution: Reduce cognitive load
Solution: Make it accessible
* Noted as being the most difficult step by users
Solution: Grouping related elements to give meaning
* Noted as being the most difficult step by users
Solution: Reduce cognitive load
Solution: Reduce cognitive load
Solution: Grouping related elements to give meaning
The lo-fi prototype allowed me to explore how a product will function and how a user will move through the flow, without having to design every detail.
By conducting moderated usability studies, I assessed how easy or difficult it was for users to complete the core task, which was to pay for parking. The overall user experience appeared to be sufficient enough to move forward without any massive changes. All the users completed the core task with ease.
There was something I was missing. I approached the usability studies with a different mindset. Instead of directly instructing the user to perform a task, I'll make them think about how to perform the task.
By changing my approach and allowing users to think through tasks, instead of directing them to perform tasks, I uncovered pain points that drove new improvements.
Time-on-task increased by 800% from the original usability study, which averaged 5 seconds.
The new design lacked helpful elements that could impact users’ desired parking time, such as the current time and rates.
Improvements:
100% of users were unable to input the max parking time available with $2.25, because the total cost wasn’t shown on the screen.
The new design lacked helpful elements that could impact users’ desired parking time, such as the current time and rates.
Types of accepted credit, which is always displayed during any transaction, weren’t shown when the user would pay.
Improvements:
Details, such as the parking spot #, weren’t present on-screen, so the user would never know if they were incorrect. Also, there was no option to revise these details.
Improvements: