Cozette Kosary, M.A., B.E.D.
UX Researcher and Strategist
route me
Paper Prototype
offered users a clear and concise written form of step by step directions to Room 340 in the Art and Design Building.
iPad PDF Prototype
incorporated 2D and 3D visual interfaces of the space to guide users visually to Room 340.
Flash Prototype
merged zooming and panning gestures with the visual interface to create an intuitive experience for users using the route me application.
Project Overview
Design Team
Ren Harn
Brook Graham
Rachel Magario
YuPing Hsu
Khalid Moukali
Michele Rook
Maria Jose Miselem
Cozette Kosary
Duration
15 Weeks, Spring 2011
Deliverables
route me Mobile Application Prototypes
• Paper Prototype
• PDF Prototype
• Flash Prototype
Assignment
A Group of graduate students from different disciplines were asked to define and improve an aspect of the University of Kansas’s wayfinding by using user participation in both the research and design phases of the project.
Design Team Focus
Originally the team sought out to improve campus wayfinding in terms of finding Visitors' Parking on campus however the true problem with wayfinding emerged in finding a specific location within the buildings on campus. Therefore, the team shifted the projects focus from finding Visitors' Parking to finding Room 340 in The Art and Design Building.
Solution
route me materialized from the University of Kansas's need to improve campus wayfinding.
Temporary solutions of improving building signage and maps were thought to solve campus wayfinding. However an updateable application is sought by students to be the most effective long-term solution.
Through User Experience Research, Prototyping, and Testing, route me emerged as an application that will not only direct people to the building but offers step by step directions, a map of the building site, and panoramic images of the space to help them find their way to a specific space.
Design Process
Phase 1:
Observe The Situation:
Finding Visitors' Parking
To begin observing the situation, the design team decided to interview first time visitors and familiarize themselves with the campus environment and resources.
Due to a lack of access to first time visitors, the team decided to interview freshmen because school recently started and many of them had just experienced being a first time visitor.
To conduct Interviews, the team handed freshmen a map of campus, asked them to identify all visitors parking, and to tell the team about their first visit to campus.
The team then, analyzed interviews and identified two types of users: The Spontaneous Visitor and The Organized Visitor. The team constructed Personas reflecting the two user types in order to empathize with the individuals being designed for.
To familiarize themselves with the campus environment and resources, the design team visited the Visitor’s Center, the Campus Help Desk, and Parking Options. They also retraced the interviewees’ routes to Visitor’s Parking. This gave the team access to all resources available to students before and after stepping onto campus.
After the team had a full understanding of the situation, they met to discuss possible solutions and Evaluate Early Design Solutions. The team proposed temporary solutions for improving wayfinding as uniform signage, better maps with salient information and then an updatable mobile application as a long-term solution.
As the team explored the idea of the application, a bigger wayfinding problem emerged. The team discovered that a GPS with the proper address could get visitors to Visitor’s Parking. The real problem was knowing where to go when you got out of the car, that the destination needs to be redefined as finding a specific room within a building and not as finding parking.
My Role:
• Co-Interviewed Users
• Co-Anaylized Interviews
• Co-Anaylized Videos of Routes For Signage and Environmental Resources
• Created Personas
Method: Interviews
provided the team with a visual route of paths users drove when finding Visitor's Parking, as well as, stories about: what users remember seeing, where users parked, and the purpose of the visit.
Method: Persona Development
represented the two types of visitors identified from the individuals interviewed. These Personas provided the design team with a face and story to empathize with.
Method: Evaluate Early Design Solutions
compared solutions practicality and longevity. Evaluation also led to the exploration of a bigger wayfinding problem: finding a specific room with in a building, interior navigation.
Phase 2:
Research The Experience:
Finding Room 340
After shifting the project’s focus to interior navigation, the design team researched novice users finding Room 340 in the Art and Design Building.
To learn about users, the team sought out students to complete a Think Aloud Protocol Walkthrough Analysis. To conduct these analyses, users were told to speak out loud to a camera and document themselves finding Room 340.
Once Analyses were complete, videos were analyzed for patterns in behavior, frustrations, and potential considerations for the application’s design. A floor plan of the building interior was also mocked up with the routes users took.
To further study the building interiors, the team used Kevin Lynch’s Model: Concept of Legibility as a lens to describe the ease with which people can understand the layout of a place. By defining paths, edges, districts, nodes and landmarks, problem areas in the building’s plan started to emerge.
This research confirmed problems with the building's wayfinding and offered proof that an interior navigation application was a viable solution.
My Role:
• Co-Conducted Think Aloud Protocol Walkthrough Analyses
• Analyzed Think Aloud Protocol Walkthrough Analyses
Method: Think Aloud Protocol Walkthrough Analysis
offered a visual and verbal representation of the routes and resources students used to get to Room 340.
Resources Included: Asking for Directions, Locating Maps, Utilizing Landmarks
Insight: Room 350 made users realize rooms are not labeled intuitively.
Method: Kevin Lynch's Model: Concept of Legibility
described the ease with which people can understand the layout of a place. By defining paths, edges, districts, nodes and landmarks, discrepancies between users’ expectations of the space and physical space emerge as flaws in the building’s design needing to be resolved.
Phase 3:
Reflect on Wants & Needs
To reflect on users’ wants and needs for the application, the design team needed to first establish proper terminology.
To establish terminology and see how current students define space, the team asked them to draw Conceptual Models of the Art and Design Building. This activity led to the discovery that 80% of current students with a class in Room 340 could not identify the location. This insight proved that current students could also benefit from the application.
To see how current students would use the application, they were asked to conduct Gesture Interviews. The team recorded current students locating Room 340 on a map and then handed them a piece of paper representing the interior navigation application. Students then needed to demonstrate how it would work by finding Room 340.
Once gesture interviews were complete and all prior videos were analyzed, Personas were developed to reflect the two target users: Novice Users and Expert Users.
Personas, Conceptual Models and Gesture Interviews led to the prototype development of the application.
My Role:
• Co-Conducted Concept Models
• Facilitated Gesture Interviews
• Analyzed Concept Models and Interviews
• Drafted Personas
Method: Conceptual Models
showed how current design students define the layout of the building.
80% did not know where Room 340 was located.
Important Landmarks include: Gallery, Main Office, Labs, Restrooms, and Cafe.
Method: Gesture Interviews
demonstrated how current students would use the interior navigation application to locate Room 340.
"The map would rotate when turning the corner." "Landmarks would be labled to show position. For example: Here is the Snack Bar."
Phase 4:
Create A New Experience
To begin the creation of a new experience and the development of an interior navigation application, the design team deployed various fidelities of prototypes and tested them on users looking for Room 340.
By performing situated action prototyping the design team was able to take the concept of an interior navigation application to physical form. This process included testing Paper Prototypes, iPad PDF Prototypes and Flash Prototypes on users to discover an application that not only offers students step by step directions to Room 340 but also incorporates pictorial references and gestural controls.
Once the application was prototyped, users conducted brand surveys and interviews to establish a name and logo for the application. Users were surveyed via SurveyMonkey to see what they would call an interior navigation application. Some names include: route me, arrive, directo, scout, and beeline. The design team then took these names and generated logos and interviewed users to see which name they preferred best. Majority of the users interviewed preferred the name route me, a compass arrow, and the color green suited the application best.
Method: Situated Action Prototype Development
uncovered verbal and visual insights on how users want the interior navigation application would look and feel.
Order of Prototypes: Expert Gesture Interviews, Balsamiq Mockup Paper Prototype, iPad PDF Prototype, Prototype Interviews, and Flash Prototype
My Role:
• Co-Generated Paper Prototypes
• Generated Sketch-Up Model for PDF Prototypes
• Co-Facilitated Prototype Testing
• Analyzed Testing and Interviews
Method: Situated Action Prototype Testing
allowed users to test prototypes in their natural state and offer environmental feedback to further develop the route me application.
Feedback: Users want confirmation when they have completed a step and reached the final destination. Landmarks are really useful. Zig-zag hallway still confusing.
Solution
Final Thoughts and Presentation
route me is an interior navigation application that incorporates a multi-optional graphic display with panning and zooming gestural controls to offer the most direct route to Room 340.
By testing various stages of prototypes and researching how users look for Room 340, the design team discovered that route me was the preferred solution to campus wayfinding.
My Role:
• Co-constructed Scenario Video
• Organized Information For Final Presentation Website (unfortunately website was recently compromised)
• Lead Speaker For All Presentations