Case Study 2
Yash and I’s Mind Map
Reading reflections 9/11
Through the readings I found a few main themes interesting that I think will interesting to think about during my airport project. The first idea is this concept of inclusion and barriers changing how people can interact with their world. The articles brushed upon how there’s minor inconveniences that aren’t a great hinderence to daily life and then there’s huge obstacles that people have to manage everyday and it can lower quality of life. I’ve found that it’s importance to just give everyone the option to participate. Not everyone needs the same exact experience or have everything made perfectly for them, there just needs to be the option to partake. I think this conclusion was honed in on by the “i’m not your inspiration” TED talk. All people want is to be included so they have freedom to make their life how they want it, and that’s what we should consider as designers. I think that TED talk made me realize people can always adapt if you give them an option to at least use your design, and it’s not a bad thing peeople can or have to use yur design differently.
However, once I read “Beauty of Spaces Created For and By Disabled People” I wondered if this philosophy was being countered by the author’s description of feeling like they truly belonged in that experience. So I reflected and thought maybe inclusive is the universal feeling we need to aim for, but unique experiences for certain groups can be a great way to create memorable experiences. Thus, I am not sure if this solves my dichotomy, but it does make me see that once again, the feeling of inclusion is what’s important.
Then, after reading the latest Kat Holmes chapter that was assigned, I realized that really participatory design is the answer to filling the gaps. As an abled white designer, I can think about how to make my designs inclusive and less barriers to entry, but theres only so much I can do and understand. That is why Kat Holmes was saying we need to bring multiple designers with disabilities to the table to communicate what people in the miniority truly want. That is the only way to make a design that actually works for it’s intended users.
Lecture Reflections 9/17
The two speakers this week felt like a good mix. Ryan’s lecture was the aesthetic and branding side of airports while Annie really put in perspective the system and regulations of airports. One tidbit I thought was great to learn about is how O’Hare has geolocated all their signs. I think it made me realize there’s a lot of design work that can be done internally for an airport because they have so much to manage.
It was also great to learn about the zones of height for signage in an airport and what would fit ADA regulations. That was especially great for me since I’m thinking about doing signage for my projects so this is stuff I would have had to research beforehand. Plus, it made me realize If I do signage I may use Annie as a subject matter expert for signage, or ask her if I could interview someone who designs security. It would be great to know how security works from an insider’s perspective so I can know other things I may need to consider that’s not user focused.
Also I think between both of these lectures I learned most airports motives and how they think when it comes to user experience and marketing. I feel like the airport’s motives seem to be getting airlines to schedule more flights to their airports. This helps put in perspective that airlines are keeping a close eye on how airports function, and they have to work closely with them to integrate digital systems and marketing in the airports. I now see that the airlines have a lot of power over airports.
Lastly, it was great to learn the challenges of working with airport branding and phasing in new designs. I think that’s good to keep in mind for practicality reasons, plus I think in this project I will have to learn how to work with airport branding since I will be following my chosen airport’s style guide most likely.
My work on my project:
Ideation
- stressed? Do some jumping jacks! It’s a screen the calls for interaction. It will make it fun and take your mind off the stressful flight
Floor signage
Possible Persona’s for Users in Security
- People with Language barriers
- Overwhelmed moms
- Autistic/neurodivergent
How Can We’s
How can we minimize confusion for inexperienced airport users while going through the security process
How can we help users not become overwhelmed while going through the security process
How can we use signage to mimics confusion & anxiety in security lines
How might we make security predictable and understandable
Need to research :
- existing solutions for security stressfulness
- TSA Cares
- Universal Signage and iconography
- Guiding children through the airport — tools to help children
Relevant Research SO Far
Talks about helping people with neurodiversity in airports
Immigration section in arrivals
Neurodivergence/ Meditation lounges in lounge section
Airport security & accessibility in departures
The Influence of Culture on Perceptions of the Airport Customer Experience
Where do you use ecosystem maps
Do we make ecosystem maps and journey map about the whole airport or with our service more in the center
Journey map becomes catered to your population
To organize all my ideas and possibilities
Journey Map
Ecosystem Map
4 selected Ideas:
From the chart I made, I tried to pick 3–4 ideas that I thought had something unique going for them.
Refined How Might We:
How might we… help users, who would be prone to confusion, navigate the unknown of security
Feedback from other studios:
Summary of Feedback
- find ways to add affordances
- narrow what you’re trying to solve: more specific user group or end goal
- spread out the security process into steps instead of all at once
- can use multiple solutions in one well-designed space
Next Steps
I needed to start specifying my user group so I decided that write out the key types of people I am trying to target my design for:
Then I went on to look at what security lines look like to start finding touchpoints to design for. I am trying to figure out great places and ways to add affordances throughout the security process. I also needed to see if there was anywhere to implement floor signage/ projection mapping
Then I figured maybe I needed to start figuring out certain pain points to focus on. The first pain point I identified early on was information was not getting to people properly. The second pain point that I have not thought through yet was how people signal for help in the TSA line specifically. So I started brainstorming for this second paint point:
How does someone signal for help?
- thinking of interesting ways to help people communicate and understand each other
- a box that people write to the TSA agents
- give simple perspectives to the TSA agaent to make them more understanding
- think of ways designers have influenced bus stops or cross walks
- how can we make the TSA wait line more bearable for those with anxious questions?
- identify people who need help, non-intrusively
- not dependent on the person to know social cues
Midterm Idea Formation
I continued to work through everything shown above and thought about which idea in my list felt like it had the most potential. For the midterm, I need to just decide so I can keep moving on my progress. I’ve identified 3 pain points that need to be addressed.
- There’s no good way to ask questions
- Users don’t get the information clearly in the beginning
- Security forces you to hurry all at one point which is stress-inducing
I decided the idea that addresses all these problems was the technology cart idea, but also have it connect to digitally changing signage. I think it is interesting to continue with the projection mapping ideas since it’s more attention-grabbing and maybe less hassle than screens. I also think it would be more financially feasible too. So I started brainstorming all the features the cart could have to address the main 3 paint points.
Uses for the cart interface
- trackers in the cart for current security wait time
- send a message for help
- connected to floor projections so it would tell you “take off your shoes!” — could have a preferred language
- anti theft lids
- let you know how to ignore things
Then it later evolved into this list where I was identifying which features to keep or not for both the cart and projections:
Then I started writing down everything I wanted to highlight in my presentation as key factors/solutions in my idea. Overall, this is everything I’ve been thinking about as my idea has come to formation.
- help people recognize mistakes subtlety
- help people organize
- best place to project or make a screen
- dynamically reacting to people real time
- bring awareness and understanding
- being scared ask
- figure out how to fix the line up & communication
- need to leave the malleability of line format
- accessibility concerns if anything relies on your phone
I think before I move on I may want to go back to doing some research before visualizing all my ideas. So here is a list of research I want to look into to help inform my current designs.
- read about IOT airports
- Do some more user research accessibility in security lines
- research articles about navigating autism disabilities in airports
- look at other urban planning examples
- look at interesting interactions made for public spaces
Midterm
I drew the cart in Procreate. I wanted something that was going to be cheap and easy to remove and add bins from. I want there to be a screen on the cart so that anyone can get quick digital information as they go about this airport. The cart would connect to the projection maps to make them relevant and personalized to the user.
Midterm Feedback + Introspection
Insights + reaction from Feedback:
Lean into your decided user group
- I think I should narrow into the not being able to hear directions well. However, the more I thought about it. I think I will curate my experience for non-native speakers since they may have the biggest barrier of understanding. Plus I think the idea of personalized translation would be interesting to implement for this project.
Users need to be given confidence
- can we make the solution fun and inviting and would only give helpful information
- I need to make sure I dont add more stress to their life.
- what small actions can create confidence rather than just reducing stress?
Think about different starting points in the security process
- I thought about doing suitcase or commerical products but it seems like versions of this exist. Plus the problem is people wont want to prepare most often, or they won’t know about the product. It basically wouldnt reach the audience I want. So then I decided I just need to keep pushing at the airport experience. There is no reason it should be as bad as it is with all the innovation at airports
Design with failure solutions
- This is good to remember because I started to think about what would happen if the user doesn't see signage? Or what if the user is in a special circumstance like traveling with a pet.
draw attention!
- Could draw attention in silly ways?
- create nudges and have multiple of them — aka you can miss one and still be okay
- I should have a distinct design system so you know that the information is all coming from the same source
TSA is going to be difficult to work with
- what if I pitch too TSA..? or work with them
- I just can’t get over how bad the binning process is. I think theres a solution in fixing this
You are introducing a new education system
- this goes with only inciting confidence. Too much new actions and information will cause confusion
- It needs to be simple and obvious
- give information like simple instructions and wait times. It should prepare you for the next step
- give overviews
- be curated for you (chose your language and accessibility needs)
Plan to carry on
I made a calendar to start following, I am going to print out a large one to start adding to and finalize
Then I wrote out goals and what I want to make in the next couple of weeks.
GOALS FOR GIA
- make her employable
- digital design
- more than an app but demonstrates UI skills
is a novel interaction - can interact with the physical so it feels more E
- creative problem solving
- needs to be polished
Lastly, I am going to start getting more specific in my user groups and problem space. So, I decided to focus on people who speak a different language than the airport’s base language. This felt like a user who encompassed similar problems to many different types of users. They have trouble with hearing unclear speak, you can’t speak to them quickly, people of all ages can have this problem, it can be very stressful, and lastly anyone can experience it. So it felt like the easiest and all encompassing user group to tackle.
Iteration 2
For this iteration I wanted to explore how the app would be used and start the UI. I thought about what would be the home page and where would the natural resting place of the UI would be.
I was thinking the most important part is the UI would be having a question button since this app is for confused travelers. So that’s why played with how to bold it and made it the biggest button.
Secondly, I thought it would be a good idea to have a map feature so users could look ahead and be able to visually see where they are in security.
Lastly, I put a settings button since when you onboard you will put in your information and language, but you may want to change or edit it depending on circumstances so that’s why I included a settings button.
I put in a back button originally because I thought maybe there would be a home screen of some sorts, but as I thought about the user experience I saw no point in having a home screen for this iteration.
I chose these 3 experience because I think they represent times of confusion that came up through my online research or from user interviews. For example, it’s sometimes hard to tell when a TSA agent is available, so it would be nice to have a double confirmation for these scenarios. Then I put the text on the screen so people would have no need for spoken directions and could just read their phones in their own language to understand what they need to do. I also thought. it was important that when you are referencing signage that you tell the user where it should be in the space in front of them.
Feedback Notes:
when is it useful to have physical and digital connect vs it would be more useful to just have a phone app
think of diagram
is it an assistant??
allude to it being used throughout the airport
use a language someone knows
? mark could have a drop down
Add a line wait estimate
the projections look like UI, need to do something to indicate it’s a projection or sign
Why use a projection mapped signage?
I was doubting that projection mapping is the way to go, so I did some research into why people have used or experimented with projections for way finding. Here’s some of the information I found.
- it can be personalized
- it can change easily if circumstances change (great for areas with
- moving parts)
cheaper and more reliable than LED signs (if you need changable signs) - its more visible
- its obvious to people around you
- its position to a place. orientated to a location more accurately
- multi directional (can been seen all directions)
- dynamic and changing to real time data
“For one, projection mapping offers superior redundancy compared to flat screen displays. A single broken screen can ruin an entire information board, but that doesn’t have to happen with projection mapping. That’s because projections can be stacked on top of one another. If one projection fails, another is there to take its place, saysRichard Ventura, VP of business development and solutions for NEC Display Solutions. That makes projection mapping ideal in emergency use cases where failure is not an option.”
https://www.aristaproav.com/article_d.php?lang=en&tb=5&id=564
Iteration 3
About Detroit airports personal signage
I started to map out where interactions should happen throughout the security experience. the first version i mapped out the journey in my head. Then I edited it to the second version to be more like the pittsburgh airport and started the experience at the bag check kiosk. I debated how the interaction between TSA ID check and the bins should go. I figured you can’t have multiple pathways at once so a blue path msg not be feasible on a busy day.
- I started to think about how digital signs could come into play and connect with the whole system. I partially started thinking about this because you shouldn’t put detailed instructions onto a floor projection.
- Based on my user interviews the most stressful spots of security are the beginning of the line if you’re running late, putting your items in bins, and retrieving your items. So I figured the first easiest problem to address was packing the bins since usually the problem is a lack of information on what needs to be done. So I started figuring out what that sign would like and what it would absolutely need to say in a concise way. I decided pictures could be a quick way of informing people of a lot of information.
- another piece of information i gathered was an experience from one interviewee who had a stressful situation because the people behind her didn’t move up so the TSA agent made her move down when she had her bag half unpacked on the ground. So this miscommunication of where people need to be in quick timing was interesting problem to me. I figured this was problem for projection mapping because they are good at having a highlighting effect and changing quickly to real time variables. So that’s why I added the circles in front of the bin signage.
feedback
- is after security signage necessary?
- is arrows leading up or following people actually needed
- it may be too stressful or busy to be ready any kind of sign during the bin security process
- how will people know what the rings and arrows mean?
Iteration 4
I needed to rework what the app really need to be used for so I started listing out features that could be helpful based off human factors way finding signage and UI principles that my professor told me when I interviewed her.
Airport UI Features
Ideas
- Status bar
- “Next step”
- Eta
- They do not need to remember most directions
Things to keep in mind
- Predictable interactions (build trust)
- Natural mapping (common icons)
- LOW WORKING MEMORY & High cog load
- Freedom to exit??
- Design system & and consistent w/ external standards
- Remember they are learning a new design system, be intuitive
- Slips + mistakes
- Recognition better than recall
- Customizations?
- Ways to recover from mistakes
*I ended up addressing these notes in the next iterations instead i worked on the design system for this iteration*
I started trying to figure out what would make this look more clean and professional. So I asked shannon for crit and looked at a bunch of wayfinding Ui (transit, google and apple maps) and started to figure out what was wrong.
Firstly, I was told I need to make the signage be more obvious that it was signage and so I started to look into how to differentiate the sign picture from the rest of the Ui.
Secondly, shannon told me I need my margins to match up or make more sense and follow more order so I observed margins in apps and read about how grids work for mobile UI design systems.
Third, I was told to think about what’s universal signage and best icons to use. I found that the stop sign is pretty similar or the same in many countries internationally, So for now I think a stop sign bette than other icons, but it may be good to come back into that and look into the possibility of X’s or something more simple. (source picture referenced below)
User interviews to finish
- emily
- abby
- katy?
- catherine?
- shannon
- bryce
- Mom
The point of this project is…
- To show I can design UI properly
-research
- design accessibly
- empathy towards human experience
- understand human perception
Iteration 5
This iteration I started to really think about how this app should be set up and what features will make it good and basically restarted the whole look of the app.
I started off by making a grid based of the reading I read on standard column and row numbers and margin sizes for mobile specifically. Then I thought through what should be bottom too and middle and way. I also considered what should be the hierarchy and what mental models should i reference to help make this app quickly understandable to the average user. This is why I was continuously referencing map UIs during this project because I was trying to understand what makes current map way finding UI good and bad, and again trying to stick to people mental models to reduce initial learning curve.
I did a lot of iterating on buttons, copy content, and hierarchy of layering and colors. I did a lot of mapping out what may be on each screen I need to make and what words may be on each one. These are all low fi prototypes to figure this out.
I made the QR code following a similar design system. It came together quite easily after messing around with the UI design system for hours so J ended up finishing it all in one go.
Iteration 5.5
I organized what shots I needed by following my drawn visual of the security line journey that was referenced earlier. I then drew out a story board to try to visual what the shots may look like.
My shot list for the airport
filming HORIZONTAL
- walk into airport
- start check in on kiosk
- film kiosk whole ui going through
- kiosk and just hold a little bit on it
- walking and pulling out phone
- walking up to security
- entering security
- lots of filming going through line
- still videos of places i could put in stuff
- still videos of places i could put signs
- TSA booth video of picture
- walking up to TSA booth
- walking away from TSA booth
- filming a nice sit down spot by security
- film of bin bring full
- carry full bin away
- film of bin being empty?
- film blank spot near after security
Iteration 6
This staged I mapped out all the signs i needed to design and finish up any UI screens. I wasn’t happy with how the Ui looked still so I ended up iterating again and I final got happy with it. The dark blue background for certain containers was so heavy it was dragging down the whole design. So once I figured that out it was much easier from there.
I experimented with the home page and status area a lot. I ended up simplify everything much more than intended, but in the end this is an app for airport security. It needed to be straightforward.
Mapping out the content of the signs really solidified my user journey for the final presentation. It made me realize what the Ui was missing was a step by step list. I kinda had that in the status bar area, but i decided to make it a list home screen so it was the UI the app was centered around, which in the end made sensed the steps and requirements of the journey is really what the app is suppose to be all about.
I took out projections because the idea was getting complicated and frivolous what this point. I also had to take out the before security experience and after security experience. I wanted to be able to visual how the app and QR code was introduced at check in. Also, I wanted to make a security sign that was in many different languages based on the amount of people in the airport and their preferred language. Lastly, I also didn’t get around to designing an experience for an after security sign that tells you when your bin is being searched and why. I think even just signaling to someone their bin is being checked but it’ll be short and they can ask questions could be very valuable. The idea got complex and I ran out of time so some possible avenues had to be taken out in the end for presentation clarity.
Lastly, I readdressed icons in this iteration and i finally realized that icons should be centered around people’s language also, which is a nice touch of inclusivity and I think helps solve the problem of not quickly understanding a symbol. We are all used to different mental models so why not be considerate of that.
Final Figma Work
