Urban Park

The Challenge

Finding the right references, users, and most important features

• Parking is frusterating but mainly in cities where parking isn’t easily accessible while driving through traffic.
• Finding users who live in a city or drive in and out of the city to understand their main pain points.
• Knowing where to find the relevant information is just an added challenge.

Research

I started my research with secondary research to validate the assumption that parking in populated cities is time consuming and that vehicle owners use and appreciate parking apps. I also discovered the advantages and disadvantages of current parking apps through competitive analysis. Using these research methods I uncovered what features would be a good fit for the app.

1. The average American driver wastes 17 hours every year searching for parking, and in more populated cities that number increases.
2. A reserved parking spot can help vehicle owners save time.
3. Around $73 billion is spend on fuel and emissions while searching for parking.
4. Nearly half of Americans have parking anxiety.

‍User Interviews

• Find target audience users to understand pain points and references
• 70% of users said they want to save more time, while the other 30% of users said they want to save more money.
• Filtering by price is important for 100% of respondents
• Top two used apps my respondents are ParkMe and SpotHero
• Additional services were also important to 30% of respondents; surveillance, security, disability, etc.

Defining the User

Creating personas helped define key differences in motivation, which would become important reference points as functions and features developed. As research proceeded, I focused primarily on two personas because they represented two key functions: importance of reserving a parking spot, and reliance on the app’s search and filter functions.

Creating a journey map uncovered the emotional path of searching for parking. Searching for a parking spot can cause anxiety, especially in populated cities. So, while moving ahead in the design process it was important to maintain a straight forward structure to minimize time-consumption and confusion, as shown in the user task flow.

Ideate

After rapid sketching, I transferred the frames into low-fidelity wireframes. This was important for discovering which design patterns made sense, and how users would navigate between screens. This process helped me understand how users would complete each task flow, creating a foundation for the high-fidelity prototype.

This UI kit shows the core elements of the existing UI. Dark blue tends to show a sense of strength and reliability, which is a strong message of Urban Park. Clear buttons help make tasks feel manageable and easy and a sans-serif typeface was used which has clear legibility to transfer messages.

Usability Testings

The participants had to complete a series of tasks on the high fidelity prototype. All participants concluded that they would use the app and it seems very useful and convenient. Most participants completed almost all the tasks successfully. Following the usability test, a few modifications have been made to the prototype.

Next Steps

• Include additional payment methods
• Add the ability to split payment with others
• Add additional time extension features
• Add ability to create additional reservation features Iterate

Lessons Learned

It's important to remember what is the goal for the project. It's easy to develop new ideas throughout the design process, but reframing the problem and keeping your eyes on the goal is the priority. It's okay to leave the details for later because the goal is to create a MVP.