Carmichael: Working Out Wayfinding by cdavayou

design i nte rve ntion

NAVIGATI NG CARM ICHAE L PRESENTATION OVERVIEW

The purpose of this presentation is highlight the challenges of navigating the newly renovated Carmichael Gymnasium at North Carolina State University as well discuss potential solutions.

table of conte nts SECTION 01:

i ntroduction 4 The Problem Task Analysis Persona A Persona B Persona C

5 6 8 9 10

SECTION 02:

design solution 13 Carmichael Application Application Prototype Carmichael Wayfinding System Wayfinding Prototype

15 16 21 22

SECTION 03:

th e process 26 Step-by-step, inspiration

I NTRODUCTION

section

I N T R O D U C T I O N

In the fall of 2020, North Carolina State University’s Carmichael renovation and expansion project was completed. Adding almost 100,000 square feet, the state-of-the-art gymnasium is a stunning staple on NC State’s campus that represents and reflects the modern design found in Talley Student Union, Hunt Library, Centennial Campus, and other buildings on campus. Students, faculty, and staff have a plethora of different amenities that all fit inside and outside of the over 300,000 sqft space. Carmichael has over 25,000 annual users and with the additional space, that number could increase. With multiple different rooms and hallways in the massive gym, navigating the gym can become difficult for some users. Multiple floors, large rooms, and multiple entrances all result in complications in wayfinding and navigating. The purpose of this booklet is to analyze the problem, users, and space, present a solution and walk through the process of getting to these design solutions.

TH E PROBLE M When it comes to a gym, especially on a college campus, users want to get in, focus on their workout, and get out. Entering Carmichael, users should be able to navigate the gym with ease and know how to get from point A to point B quickly and efficiently. Right now, the massive space can be overwhelming and confusing to some users and these solutions are necessary to help ease navigating the gym.

TASK ANALYSIS Analyzing the task, the people effected by the navigation issues found within the gym are the users of the gym; faculty, staff, and primarily the students. In present times, users must schedule and reserve certain rooms, spaces, and equipment prior to exercising at the gym. Users use NC State’s WellRec App to reserve times and find other information about the gym. Upon arrival, users must check-in at the front desk at one of the many entrances. Here, there are interactions between Carmichael staff and gym-goers. Once past check-in, users are left finding and navigating the gym on their own. Limited signage is found throughout the gym, however, the signage is limited and does not fully help users navigate. Users should be able to navigate the gym with confidence and find different rooms with ease.

pe rsonas +

sce narios

To further dive into the task analysis, the following examples of personas and scenarios will explain more of the issues found when it comes to navigating the gym as well as provide insight on how and why the solutions are necessary.

Persona A :

M E ET, Alicia Summary: Alicia is an North Carolina State Universtiy student in her freshman year. She is new to campus and new to the gym. She recently joined the club swimteam and wants to get into shape before practices start. She has never been to the gym before and has only seen it through as tour.

Expe ri e nce at th e Gym WITHOUT SOLUTIONS

GYM FAMILIARITY TIME EXERCISING NAVIGATING EASE OVERALL EXPERIENCE

Scenario 1:

Upon arrival, Alicia feels overwhelmed due to the immense size of the gym and is not sure where to even start. Every room she enters leads to another and in every hallway she goes through, there are multiple others that branch off of it. Alicia just joined the club swim team and wants to get conditioned for swimming. After some time, Alicia finally finds an area with a few cardio machines to choose from. After cardio, she wants to train and get her upper body in to shape. Just like the cardio area, Alicia does not know where to find upper body machines and equipment and struggles to find where to go. After some time, Alicia ends up finding and finishing up upper body and wants to get to the pool. She trys her best however the lack of signage paired with the immense size of the gym, she takes even more time trying to find the pool. Navigating the gym has proven hard for Alicia and she spent lots of time just trying to find out where she wants to go.

WITH SOLUTIONS

GYM FAMILIARITY TIME EXERCISING NAVIGATING EASE OVERALL EXPERIENCE

Persona B :

M E ET, bryce Summary: Bryce is an North Carolina State Universtiy student in his junior year. Bryce has been to the gym since his freshman year and exercises daily. While he loves the new gym, after the new renovation, Bryce has found it difficult to adjust to the new layout and find certain areas.

Expe ri e nce at th e Gym WITHOUT SOLUTIONS

GYM FAMILIARITY TIME EXERCISING NAVIGATING EASE OVERALL EXPERIENCE

Scenario 2: Bryce goes to the gym everyday, sometimes with friends, sometimes individually. Either way, he has found navigating the gym has become challenging with the renovation. Bryce must schedule and reserve the rooms he wants to workout in, most of which being new rooms that were added during the renovation. Once he gets there, he is not quite sure where to go and how to get there with ease. Because of this, Bryce talks with Carmichael staff behind the desk at the main entrance. After running through all of the rooms he reserved with the staff, he realizes he has already cut into his workout time and since it is a scheduled time period, he now has less time to work out. He rotates between different sections of his body each day when he works out and has run into the same issue each time he goes to the gym. Bryce also noticed that a lot of the machines and equipment are spread out and feel randomly placed, taking even more time out of his workout.

WITH SOLUTIONS

GYM FAMILIARITY TIME EXERCISING NAVIGATING EASE OVERALL EXPERIENCE

Persona C:

M E ET, clark Summary: Clark serves as the custodian manager at NC State’s Wellness and Recreation Center, Carmichael. He’s worked there for years and knew the gym well. Since the renovation, his newer staff members are having trouble nagivating and fidning certains rooms, Clark finds himself confused at times as well.

Expe ri e nce at th e Gym WITHOUT SOLUTIONS

GYM FAMILIARITY WOKKING EFFICIENCY NAVIGATING EASE OVERALL EXPERIENCE

Scenario 3: Under Clark, he has a custodian staff that tends to the facility daily. Since the renovation, Clark is spammed with calls and text from his newer staff members that do not fully know how to get around the gym. Clark does a decent job with explaining where to find certain rooms but there is a not a clear and consistent language when it comes to navigating the gym. Since the equipment is spread out and some rooms are filled with different machines and equipment, Clark runs into problems trying to explain where areas are and how to get there. Clark is a busy man with lots of responsibilties and constantly having to help out his new staff is taking time out of his work.

WITH SOLUTIONS

GYM FAMILIARITY WORKING EFFICIENCY NAVIGATING EASE OVERALL EXPERIENCE

use r journ ey maps Persona A: Alicia Happy Neutral Unhappy

Alicia arrives at the gym

She checks-in, has to ask where cardio room is

Finishes cardio, struggles to find upper body room

Finds upper body, works out, wants to swim

She tries to find the locker rooms closest to pool

Gets changed, takes time to find the pool

Swims a few laps, locker room, then leave

Bryce arrives at the gym

He checks-in, has to ask where to go

Finally finds room, begins leg day workouts

He is unsure where the other leg machines are

Walks around gym to find more leg machines

He finds some machines but not the one he’s looking for

Asks front desk, finishes workout, then leaves

Clark gets in early to open the gym

Begins custodial duties

Quickly has to help staff member find a room

Continues working around the gym

Staff member approaches him asking for help

Persona B: Bryce Happy Neutral Unhappy

Persona C: Clark Happy Neutral Unhappy

Explains to second Frustrated about staff member where working inefficiency, to go shift ends

section

02 D

eve ryth i ng carm ichae l, all i n your pocket. Whether you’re a student, a part of faculty or staff, The Carmichael Go App provides users with in-depth information about the Wellness and Recreation Center. Users have the ability to schedule and reserve rooms and equipment, learn about all of the amenties, have a detailed map that helps navigating the entire gym, and so much more. The Carmichael Go App is NC State’s students best gym partner.

carm ichae l go app With the Carmichael Go App, gym users have everything they need to have a successful time at the Wellness and Recreation Center right in their pocket. The app is available to anyone who uses Carmichael and is the next best gym partner for Carmichael users. This app is where users can access all of Carmichaels information, and most importantly, helps users navigate the gym with its detailed navigating feature.

Just like all of NC State’s applications and websites, Carmichael users login with their NCSU account. This allows security and privacy to users accounts and their gym profiles, as well as working seamlessly with NC State’s Healthy Pack Portal.

features On the Home Page of the Carmichael Go App, users have access to reserve and schedule rooms, take a look at all the amenities the gym has to offer, are able to see their gym friends and share workouts and progress, have access to get workout and exercise sets and routines, get help and find answers to their questions, and most importantly, have a full map of the entire gym right in their pocket. When users schedule and reserve rooms, they are also given locations and directions to their desired room. Having the map integrated for when users schedule rooms saves time for when it comes time to go exercise or workout.

In addition, the menu tab right on the home screen allows users to not only quickly navigate the gym, but also the app. For quick, efficient, and easy entry, users can input their student ID card directly into the app and use that to check in. Users do not have to worry about forgetting their Student ID card because all of their information is right on the app. No digging around in your wallet, swiping your card the right way, just one scan and you are in. Users are also given the option to sign out which allows other users to log in and schedule their own times and access their own Student ID card if they happened to forget their phone or wallet.

map

Getting around Carmichael has never been easier. With the Carmichael Go App, users have access to an entire map of the entire Wellness and Recreation center as well as a color coding wayfinding system that makes finding rooms and equipment that much eaiser. Different types of workouts like Cardio, Upper body, Lower body, and Core are all associated and labeled with certain colors that make them stand out when it comes to exercise time. Users can search for certain rooms either before or inbetween the workouts and find out exactly where and how to get there quickly and efficiently, notifying if there’s water fountains, bathrooms, and locker rooms on the way to a user’s next destination. Working with other features that are a part of the app, the map feature fits in perfectly and is always available to users whenever they are interacting with anything in the app. With all the navigational features in user’s pockets. They can spend more time focusing on their workouts.

Workout Types

Navigate

Users can search anything that Carmichael has to offer; rooms, equipment, amenities, classes, bathrooms, entrances, exits, etc. All with directions and locations for every aspect of the gym

If a user wants to focus on a certain portion of the body to exercise, the app will display all of the rooms that have those specific types of machines and equipment and their locations

Once a user has chosen the room they want to go to, the app features a navigate button that gives them step-by-step directions and locations on how to get to and locate the desired room

pe rsona A:

ALICIA

With the Carmichael Go App, Alicia can now navigate the gym quickly and efficiently. Before going to the gym, she can schedule out and reserve her entire exercise time and find out exactly where she needs to go, before and inbetween each of her workouts. Now when Alicia is ready to condition for the club swim team she knows exactly where to go. When she first arrives at the gym, she want to do some cardio to warm up. Using the app, she’s shown which floors and what rooms have cardio machines and what specific machines are in there. Once she finishes with cardio, she navigates towards upper body and with the color coding system she actually sees a new cardio machine on her way that she wants to use next time she comes to the gym. Finally, she wants to end her work out in the pool which the app easily navigates her to. She ends her workout and leaves Carmichael quickly and efficiently. EXPERIENCE WITH SOLUTIONS

GYM FAMILIARITY TIME EXERCISING NAVIGATING EASE OVERALL EXPERIENCE

Carm ichae l color codi ng: wayfi n di ng syste m Navigating Carmichael has never been easier. By color coding certain types of rooms by area of the body users want to target in their workouts, a simple cohesive language is created that not only helps communication, but also creates a clear way to navigate the entire gym. Certain colors mean specifc types of rooms for different exercises, visually communicating what different rooms offer.

color paths

Carmichael’s immense size comes with immense hallways. Long, wide, and overwhelming hallways span the entire building and are mostly bare and free from any sort of furniture or gym equipment. Solving this issue as well as the nagivation issue, Color Paths guide gym users and lead them to their destination. Accompanied with the Carmichael Go App, Color Paths lets users nagivate the gym with ease.

Color codi ng wayfi n di ng syste m + color paths The System Between the Color Coding Wayfinding System and the Color Paths, navigating Carmichael has never been easier. The Color Coding System works seamlessly with the Carmichael Go App and visually shows users what type of equipment is in each room without even fully entering. To not go against Carmichael’s design aesthetic, the color coding system is executed as accent colors in different gym rooms. In addition, the color coded rooms allows for clearer communication when it comes to giving directions. With Color Paths, the same colors used to categorize specific rooms are also used as a floor guide for gym users. Starting at each entrance,

color paths guide users to their exercise destination. To not take away from Carmichael’s elegant and clean design, these color paths a subtly placed on the floor towards the wall in more narrow hallways, but are front and center in the large open hallways. User Experience With these color aspects, users can easily identify where they want to go based on what exercises they want to do. Right at the main entrances, signage quickly explaining the color coding system gives users a whole new level of understanding of the gym, regardless if they have been there before. For frequent users, they can develop a language that easily lets other users know where they are and where different rooms are.

pe rsona B:

Bryce

With the Color Coded Wayfinding System as well the Color Paths, now when Bryce goes to the gym, he can navigate the gym with ease and get to different rooms and equipment without having to ask someone for help. Right when he arrives, Bryce can either follow the paths or look for certain colors in different rooms, letting him know what part of the body the room is for. On top of that, the color coding system also allows him to find new equipment that he may not have seen or used before, but knows that it’s for the right body part becasue of the color the machine is in proximity with. Bryce’s workouts are fast and efficient as well as his navigating skills. He can easily explain where certain rooms are and what type of machines and equipment the rooms have to offer. He always knows exactly where to go and can pass along that information to friends and other gym users if need be. EXPERIENCE WITH SOLUTIONS

GYM FAMILIARITY TIME EXERCISING NAVIGATING EASE OVERALL EXPERIENCE

section

03 T

TH E PROCESS STEP 1: INTERVIEWS To begin, I started to research Carmichael Gymnasium by interviewing different types of users the are somehow related to the gym itself. I interviewed two students, one of which is a former Carmichael employee, and the Executive Director of Wellness and Recreation, Eric Hawkes. Here, I gathered information about Carmichael itself, but also problems that users face when they use the gym STEP 2: KNOWLEDGE MAP In this step, I compiled all of the information I gathered about Carmichael and it’s issues into a foldable broadsheet STEP 3: DESIGN INTERVENTION: Finally, I thought of design solutions that could solve Carmichael’s wayfinding problems by defining the problem, analyzing the space, recognizing the users, and more. SOLUTIONS:

Especially on a college campus, gyms are supposed to allow users to get it and get out quickly and efficiently. Since I wanted my solutions to reflect that, I carefully thought of solutions that seemed to fit in effortlessly with the gym. 26

Carmichael: Working out Wayfinding Carter Avayou 4 / 6 / 2021 Special Thanks: Matthew Saunders Shaun Gillie Eric Hawkes

4.6.2021 28

Carmichael: Working Out Wayfinding

Articles inside

the process

design solution