Traffic Systems
Project Overview:
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” and this has become the root cause for the problem.
Through this project, we tried to look at changing the existing system from being vehicle-centric to something more human-centric and user-centric. This project aims at creating awareness about the traffic system amongst the general public through a public installation, set in the context of urban space in India, by making use of technology.
Timeline:
October 2020- November 2020; 4 weeks.
Team:
6 Members;
Srinija Ghantasala, Suharika Kanumalli, Manya Singh, Tanvi Shrivastava,
Manvi Fotedar, Sachi Dhingra
Skills:
UX Research, Interviewing, Service design, Systems design, Experience design, Storyboarding, and Prototyping
Tools:
Miro, Figma, Adobe XD
Discover
Chosen Context
Research
Analysis &
Ideation
System
Mapping
Prototyping
Discover
Identifying the key problem area:
With the growing number of vehicles on roads, it has become extremely difficult to manage traffic and ensure movement of traffic at all times. Urban spaces in India have already taken a step forward by making use of AI and technology as an aide for traffic management. Major cities in India have already implemented different interventions, but the results haven’t been fully positive.
After a lot of research and 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 the majority of road users (humans). How can we create this awareness such that it leads to a smoother functioning of the existing traffic system?
Context
In order to gain a better understanding of the problem, we did both primary and secondary research. We started by reading up about the existing use of technology, what worked and did not work. We read case studies such as Mumbai Traffic police intervention “Honk more, wait more”, where a simple intervention was proved to be 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.
Contextual Inquiry - Stakeholder map
Problem Statement
“To increase the efficiency of traffic administration through education and AI/ML driven systems while keeping into consideration interspecies inclusivity.”
WHAT?
Road and traffic management
WHERE?
Indian urban context
WHEN?
Put into use within the next 5 years (post pandemic world).
WHO?
All users of the roads (specially-abled, environment, animals included)
WHY?
It is currently not as efficient as it is designed to be
Research
Secondary Research - Ecosystem mapping
Primary Research - Interviews
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 the users of the road. Many-a-times, while designing, we tend to forget to ask and understand the viewpoints of the people who are affected by the solution- the people we are designing for. Since we are designing and ideating for the users of the road, we wanted to interview them from that perspective as well. We gathered data points from each interview and note them.
Analysis & Ideation
Affinity mapping, Insights generation, 5 why analysis, brainstorming, ideas evaluation
System Mapping
Final Idea
For our final idea, we chose to create an interactive public installation that aims 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 objective of the game 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 are able to create awareness among them. The game enables the thought of looking for “offences” and hence makes the user more conscious of their surroundings and actions.
The installation will be installed at a big crossroad, where traffic is usually very heavy. The plan is to include a reward system for the player/user in order 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 the pedestrians who are waiting to cross the road, or simply anyone who passes by this installation.
The game screen shows real-time footage of that particular crossroad. Users playing the game will be catching real-time “offenders” or traffic rule violators. In case 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 be shared to their social media as well.
System maps
Stakeholder map, Empathy Mapping, PESTEL Analysis, SWOT Analysis, Storyboarding, Service Blueprint, Journey Mapping
Prototyping
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. On the right bottom 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 & Further Scope
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 the research. Careful consideration of interviewee profiles helped our research phase a lot, mainly because it helped us broaden our scope of the investigation. There could be many other interventions, definitely, to work towards solving the problem of traffic. 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 very 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 little ease. It was interesting to me to see my journey of going from the initial topic definition phase to the final prototyping phase. I have learned a lot throughout this journey.
As a further scope, since the installation is running on real data, it can be used as a data collection source that can be beneficial to the Government. The public themselves could be a second source of verification of offences registered by the cameras currently. One identified problem so far, is, how ethical is this form of data collection? Another scope is that hierarchy in the enforcement area of the traffic system can be reduced with the increased awareness among the public. If awareness is created as per our assumption, then there can be a shift in the power distribution between engineering, management and enforcement (insights from interviews).