Traffic Systems
> This is a project that looks at 'interaction design' for virtual reality (VR)
> Duration: October 2020 - November 2020
> Tools used: Miro, Figma, Adobe XD
> Skills: UX Research, Interviewing, Service design, Systems design, Experience design, Storyboarding, and Prototyping
> Team: Srinija Ghantasala, Suharika Kanumalli, Manya Singh, Tanvi Shrivastava, Manvi Fotedar, Sachi Dhingra.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Traffic in India has become a huge problem, especially over the past decade. With the rapid growth in the number of vehicles on the roads, there is a significant increase in the problems with the existing traffic management system. The present system is more “vehicle-centric”, which has become the problem's root cause.
Through this project, we tried to look at changing the existing system from vehicle-centric to more human-centric and user-centric. This project aims to create awareness about the traffic system amongst the general public through a public installation set in the context of urban space in India by using technology.
WHAT I DID
This is a group project. I conducted field research and followed the design thinking process in synthesising research, drawing insights, brainstorming, and ideating. I defined and designed the proposed systemic change. I also worked on storyboarding and prototyping the final idea.
IDENTIFYING KEY PROBLEM AREA
With the growing number of vehicles on roads, it has become challenging to manage traffic and ensure traffic movement at all times. Urban spaces in India have already taken a step forward by using AI and technology to aid traffic management. Major cities in India have already implemented different interventions, but the results haven’t been fully positive.
After much research and from our own experiences as road users, we have identified that one of the causes for the ineffectiveness of the traffic system is the lack of awareness about all the rules and consequences among most road users (humans). How can we create this awareness to lead to a smoother functioning of the existing traffic system?
CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY - STAKEHOLDER MAPPING
To better understand the problem, we did both primary and secondary research. We started by reading up about the existing use of technology and what worked and what did not. We read case studies such as the Mumbai Traffic police intervention “Honk more, wait more”, where a simple intervention proved effective.
Following this secondary research, we did a stakeholder map for the entire traffic and road system to identify the key stakeholders whose role in the traffic system plays a significant role.
DEFINING THE PROBLEM
ECOSYSTEM MAPPING
INTERVIEWING EXPERRTS
We conducted the interviews with the interviewees. We prepared specific questionnaires for each interviewee. At the end of the interview, as the last question, we also asked them their experience and opinions as users of the road. Many-a-times, while designing, we tend to forget to ask and understand the viewpoints of the people affected by the solution- the people we are designing for. Since we are designing and ideating for the users of the road, we also wanted to interview them from that perspective. We gathered data points from each interview and note them.
AFFINITY MAPPING AND INSIGHTS GENERATION
5 WHY ANALYSIS
EVALUATING IDEAS USING THE MATRIX METHOD
FINAL CONCEPT
For our final idea, we created an interactive public installation to create awareness amongst the general public. The installation would be a game that anyone with a smartphone can connect to and interact with. The game's objective is to identify “offenders” of traffic rules. By giving the power to the general public to determine what is an offence and what is not, we can create awareness among them. The game enables the thought of looking for “offences, " making the user more conscious of their surroundings and actions.
The installation will be at a big crossroad, where traffic is usually very heavy. The plan is to include a reward system for the player/user to provide an incentive to play the game. The game begins as the signal at the crossroad turns red and will last for about 60-90 seconds (depending on the signal duration), until the signal turns green. It is intended for pedestrians waiting to cross the road or simply anyone passing by this installation.
The game screen shows real-time footage of that particular crossroad. Users playing the game will catch real-time “offenders” or traffic rule violators. If the traffic density is less, old footage of the same crossroad can be played on the screen. The idea behind using real-time footage is so that the users feel a sense of accomplishment immediately as they are playing the game. At the end of the game, their results can also be shared on their social media.
CONCEPT EVALUATION
PROTOTYPING
This is the prototype of what the installation game screen will look like. Beside the screen, there is empty space where advertisements can be played. This is a space where monetisation can occur. In the bottom right corner, there is a QR code available. Scanning this QR code with a smartphone will lead the user to the game. The smartphone acts as the controller. Initially, we planned to make the screen itself interactive. Considering the current pandemic situation and given that this project aims to be launched/implemented post lockdown, we changed the interactive screen idea to QR code enabled smartphone-controller. This way, we minimize physical contact.
REFLECTION
This project was done in 4 weeks. While doing a project of high research magnitude, it is important we provide an adequate amount of time for research as well as analysing of the research. Careful consideration of interviewee profiles helped our research phase a lot, mainly because it helped us broaden the scope of the investigation. There could be many other interventions to work towards solving the traffic problem. But I felt that starting at the very beginning of it all - the awareness stage was the most important thing, especially in an Indian context. The biggest challenge I felt during this project is the whole aspect of “public installation” itself. Since the users who interact with it are a vast and diverse group, we had to consider the physical nature of the installation itself.
Following various design thinking and research methods helped us navigate through this project with a bit of ease. It was interesting to see my journey from the initial topic definition phase to the final prototyping phase. I have learned a lot throughout this journey.