RENEW
Project Overview
This project aims to enhance the University of Minnesota’s parking system by creating a more user-friendly and accessible experience, particularly for those without parking permits. Many students, visitors, and commuters struggle with finding available parking, navigating restrictions, and dealing with last-minute lot closures. To address these challenges, the project introduces a real-time notification system that provides up-to-date information on parking availability, lot status, and temporary closures.
The system will help users quickly locate open spaces, plan their routes more efficiently, and avoid unnecessary frustration. Additionally, the project considers accessibility needs, ensuring that users can easily find disability-friendly parking options and alternative transportation solutions. By streamlining the parking experience, this initiative aims to reduce congestion, improve campus mobility, and enhance overall convenience for non-permit holders.
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Problem Statement:
How might we improve the parking experience at the University of Minnesota to make it more user-friendly and accessible for all users?
Research
Our research on the UMN parking system uncovered key challenges through surveys, interviews, and user activities. The most common issues reported were difficulty finding available parking, high costs, and a lack of real-time space availability. Interviews revealed frustrations with full ramps, inefficient payment methods (especially in cold weather), and missing crucial parking updates. Users also struggled to remember where they parked and wanted personalized parking preferences. A Site Map Creation activity helped participants design the app’s navigation, prioritizing key features like parking availability, event notifications, and payment options. Stakeholder analysis identified students, faculty, staff, and visitors as primary users, with University Parking Services, app developers, and customer support teams playing a crucial role in implementation. Secondary stakeholders, including university administration, event coordinators, and accessibility advocates, influence broader decision-making. This research provides a foundation for developing a user-friendly parking app that improves navigation, reduces frustration, and enhances the overall parking experience at UMN.
Survey:
What challenges students experienced with parking ramps?
What features or improvements would make the parking system more user-friendly?
We conducted a survey to gather insights into the challenges users face with the UMN parking system. The most common issues reported were difficulty finding available parking spaces and high parking costs.​ Additionally, users expressed need for improvements in the system, particularly the inclusion of real-time space availability​
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Service Blueprint
We created a service blueprint to map out the pain points and inefficiencies in the UMN parking system, helping us identify gaps in availability, navigation, notifications, and payment processes to design a more seamless and user-friendly solution.
The Service blueprint findings highlight key pain points in the UMN parking experience. Users struggle with finding available parking, leading to frustration and wasted time. Inefficient navigation causes delays as users search for open spaces. A lack of real-time notifications on lot status, closures, and events results in confusion and unnecessary detours. Additionally, payment inefficiencies contribute to traffic congestion and frustration, especially in poor weather. Addressing these issues with improved availability tracking, clear notifications, and streamlined payment systems will enhance the overall parking experience.
Current Campus Parking Solution
The current Gopher Park app at the University of Minnesota provides a basic platform for managing parking, but it has several limitations that impact user experience. While it offers parking reservations and payment options, users frequently struggle with real-time availability updates, unclear navigation, and limited notifications on lot closures or events. Many find the app’s interface unintuitive, making it difficult to efficiently locate open spaces or receive timely alerts. Additionally, the app lacks personalized features, such as saved parking preferences or reminders for where users parked. These shortcomings contribute to frustration, wasted time, and unnecessary congestion, highlighting the need for a more user-friendly and dynamic parking solution.
Final Concept
The UMN Parking app is designed to improve the campus parking experience by providing a personalized and seamless solution for students, faculty, staff, and visitors. The app features real-time availability tracking, allowing users to quickly find open parking spots and avoid unnecessary delays. Users can set personalized parking preferences, receiving tailored recommendations based on their typical parking habits and location. The app also helps users navigate parking conflicts, such as lot closures or high-traffic areas, with timely alerts and alternative options. An integrated payment system streamlines transactions, making it easier to pay for parking on the go. Additionally, helpful reminders and notifications keep users informed about parking restrictions, expiration times, and campus events, ensuring a more efficient and stress-free parking experience.
Key Features:
The home page highlights your preferred parking lot, showing how busy it is and its peak hours. If you're already parked, it displays the ramp you're in, the duration of your parking, and your exact parking spot. Additionally, the app integrates with your schedule to suggest the most suitable lot based on when and where you have classes.
User Testing:
Through user testing, we discovered that users wanted to see where they parked and the duration of their parking session displayed directly on the home page.
Parking Home Page
Preferences
Key Features:
In the Preferences tab, users can tailor their experience by setting their preferred parking lot, uploading their weekly class schedule, selecting which parking lots they wish to receive notifications for, and entering their payment details for transactions.
User Testing:
Through user testing, we found that users preferred the convenience of uploading their schedules rather than manually entering them.
Parking
Key Features:
The parking feature allows users to check lot availability before they arrive. It displays nearby lots, the number of open spots in each, and the general peak hours for each location, helping users plan their parking ahead of time.
User Testing:
Through user testing, we found that users wanted to know the peak hours of lots in order to plan ahead and better understand how busy the lots are throughout the day. This feature helps users make informed decisions about where and when to park.
Parking Conflicts
Key Features:
The Parking Conflict feature provides users with important information about external factors that could impact parking availability. It alerts users about upcoming events, construction, or cleaning that may affect parking lots, as well as whether certain areas are reserved or unavailable due to special events.
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User Testing:
Through user testing, we found that users preferred to focus less on event details and more on which parking lots are affected and at what times. This feedback led to a shift towards providing clearer, time-specific information about parking lot availability.
Payment
Key Features:
The Payment Feature provides users with a personalized QR code. Scanning the code upon entry activates the parking timer, removing the need for a physical ticket. When exiting, users scan the code again to stop the timer and make a payment, which is charged to their linked account (either a bank or Gopher Gold account).
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User Testing:
Through user testing, we found that users wanted the ability to input their parking spot to avoid forgetting its location.
Notifications and Widgets
Key Features:
Notifications - Users will receive notification about changes to their preferred parking lots, such as events, closures, cleaning, or construction. They will also be reminded to input their parking spot after parking.
Widget - users can add a widget to their phone to track how long they’ve been parked, providing easy access to parking duration without opening the app.
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User Testing:
Through user testing, we found that users wanted to be reminded to input their parking spot. This reminder helps prevent forgetting where they parked
Reflection
Through extensive research, including surveys, interviews, and service blueprint analysis, we identified key challenges within the UMN parking system that cause frustration and inefficiency for users. The most common issues include difficulty finding available parking, high costs, lack of real-time space updates, and inefficient payment methods, especially in cold weather. Users also struggle with navigation, missing crucial parking updates, and remembering where they parked. The current Gopher Park app lacks the necessary features to address these concerns, offering limited notifications, unclear navigation, and no personalized parking preferences. By creating a service blueprint, we mapped out these pain points to better understand user frustrations and pinpoint areas for improvement. This research serves as the foundation for developing a more intuitive, real-time parking solution that enhances accessibility, reduces wasted time, and improves the overall parking experience at UMN.
Next Steps >>>
Next steps for this project involve testing prototypes with real users to gather feedback on usability, navigation, and overall effectiveness. Conducting usability tests and pilot programs will help refine key features, such as real-time availability tracking, notifications, and payment integration. Collaborating with UMN Parking and Transportation Services will be essential to ensure the system aligns with existing infrastructure and policies while identifying opportunities for expansion. Additionally, exploring partnerships with local businesses and event coordinators could provide real-time parking insights and alternative transportation options. Finally, refining the app’s interface, accessibility features, and personalized user settings will create a seamless, user-friendly experience that addresses the parking challenges at UMN and potentially beyond.
Brooke Visker Portfolio