User Experience, Interface Design and Brand Identity Design Mobile Parking System
Background It all started in the medieval town of Shrewsbury.
This idea of smartphone parking remained on my
I was visiting a friend for lunch and parked on
mind for a while. I visited Birmingham for a tour
the council owned pay and display car park -
of the new university campus and thought, yes,
the machine only accepted loose change, and
lots of people use this busy city centre multi-
required the exact fee. Everyone around me
story car park, many use their cards for payment
was experiencing the same inconvenience and
which causes queuing. A mobile app would also
delay; people either had no change, not enough
solve this problem, save wasted queuing time,
change, or too much change. Plus, it was a
and provide a better experience for parkers.
challenge to accurately forecast the length of stay that one should pay for. Would I be two
This project is an exploration of how this app
hours, or four? I put two hours, and was fined
could work, look, feel, function and be suitable
for being 10 minutes late. Wouldn’t it have been
for a wide spectrum of audiences across a varied
far easier and more efficient to have reached for
range of car parks.
my smartphone, and paid for my parking in an instant?
Target Audiences Age Demographic of Respondents
Following primary research to understand
Age Demographic of Respondants
whether car park users were happy with
74+
their experiences, it was clear that there was opportunity for me to develop the user experience of a car park, particularly for ticket
How
18-24 65-74
payments. The results on the opposite page represent the 25-34
responses of 41 people across a range of ages. The graph clearly identifies key opportunities
H
55-64 45-54
where ParkĂŠ can provide more efficient and user friendly experiences for car park customers.
Would you be interested in an easier way to
Wo
NO
How many times do you use How a many do you useweek? a car park per cartimes park per
Would you be interested in an easier way to park?
3-6
using a mobile/smartphone Would for you be interested in using a mobile/ app parking payments?
park?
week?
How many times do you use a car park per week?
Would you be interested in using a mobile/ Would you be interested in smartphone app for parking payments?
Would you be interested in Would be interested an easier way to anyou easier wayinto park?
smartphone app for parking payments?
NO NO
NO
NO
3-6 6-8 1-3
6-8 8+
1-3
YES YES
YES YES
8+
Have you ever used a telephone parking Have payment you ever used a system? telephone system? Have you ever payment used a telephone parking
How would like parking toeasier? be easier? Howyou would parking How would you you likelike parking totobebeeasier?
payment system?
YES YES
NumberPlate Plate Recognition - so no need for physical tickets AutomaticAutomatic Number Recognition - so no need for physical tickets
Automatic Number Plate Recognition - so no need for physical tickets
Easier time management, such as mobile alerts when meter is nearly due for expiry
Easier time management such as mobile alerts when meter is nearly due for expiry
Easier time management, such as mobile alerts when meter is nearly due for expiry No more loose change
NO NO
No more loose change
No more loose change No more queuing for paying
No more queuing for paying
No more queuing for paying
Digital Payment solution such as PayPal
Would you be interested in using a mobile/ smartphone app for parking payments? Would you be interested in using a mobile/ smartphone app for parking payments?
Digital Payment solution as PayPal Digital payment solution such as such PayPal
Other 0
Other Other 0
NO NO
8
8
15
15
23
23
30
30
User Experience Target audience research revealed that customers were looking for a more streamlined user journey between entering and leaving a car park. The recommendations highlighted in the research have been directly integrated into my designed user experience. In particular, the respondents showed interest in automatic number plate recognition and this is a key part of the technology used to power the mobile parking system. In addition two thirds of respondants stated that they would be interested in a mobile parking payment solution, so this is the fundamental idea behind ParkĂŠ.
New User Registration No instructions required.
Push Notifications Registered ParkĂŠ users receive automatic push notifications on their smartphones upon entrance to a barrier car park. This allows for easy management of the ParkĂŠ ticket and payment when ready to leave.
Activation By sliding the notification or opening the app, users can easily activate pending tickets. This is a natural step for all users and a feature which makes the app very easy to use.
Dashboard Your personalised Dashboard provides a safe place for your active, pending and past tickets. Dashboard allows you to see the live status of your ticket and pay for activated tickets.
Fast Track ParkĂŠ provides easy, fast & hassle free payment solutions through PayPal in conjunction with 256-Encrypted technologies.
No more queuing; no more loose change.
Pay & Display Unlike traditional Pay & Display tickets, where failed time keeping results in tow-aways and yellow presents, ParkĂŠ becomes your pocket saving companion; alerting you to closely approaching ticket expiry and live status of your ticket. It even allows you to top-up your ticket whilst away from your vehicle.
Location ParkÊ’s beauty is in the technology in which it uses to provide customers with the easiest solution to daily tasks. Pay & Display automatically hails your location and uses its extensive database to assign you to a location tag. Once confirmed, the desired duration of parking pre-payment can be selected and paid in easy steps.
Kiosk System Like all technology, there must be a backup plan. My user scenario research highlighted scenarios where users’ smartphones may lose a data connection, battery power, or maybe the user doesn’t have a smartphone. Kiosk is the backup plan. It is an app system complete with the functionality and design of the smartphone app, but runs on an iPad, connected to hardwired network. It would be located at convenient locations across the car parks, by lifts and stairwells; convenient for the user, should their own devices fail.
Advertising My target audience research clearly identified that a petrol station is an effective location to advertise and market ParkĂŠ to potential customers. Whilst the filling station customer is filling their vehicle with fuel, they will have a prolonged moment to notice the advert on their fuel nozzle. This will instigate curiosity. This will then be followed up with a secondary touch-point, a digital advertising display at the till in the petrol station shop.
Other promotional contexts include promotion on the Apple App Store which would be seen by our target audience. Similarly, another effective location would be billboards on key city centre ringroads, as part of the commuter route, reminding people of the benefits of using the ParkĂŠ smartphone app system.
Concept designed by Ollie Cox www.olivercoxcreative.co.uk | 0121 288 3724