Portfolio Project - Formative design practice

Team:

Diksha Sharma - C220286514

Steven Twan(Duan Tao) - C220113195

Lyra Essex - C220553195

Problem Statement: We want Newcastle City Centre to appear innovative, exciting and digitally advanced as part of our smart city agenda. We would like you to design and propose some Interaction Street Furniture that will enhance the visiting experience for city visitors.

There are four main points in the problem statement. Our goal is to take into account all the factors and develop a solution:

1. Newcastle City Centre: Our solution focuses majorly on Northumberland Street as it is the busiest street in the city center.

2. Innovative, Exciting and Digitally advanced: Field research helped us gain an idea of the existing street furniture and possible ways to improve them according to the problem statement.

3. Interactive Street Furniture: Furniture which is digitally smart and capable of interacting with people.

4. Experience for City Visitors: Focus on making the experience for visitors a great one.

Field research

After comprehending the areas of focus required to design a solution, we moved on to the next phase, field research. We listed down all the street furniture that we came across in the city center. We noted problems, and good and bad designs to understand how we can improve street furniture and corresponding user experience. Here are some of the pictures that we captured during the process.

  

Personas

	Goals： 1. Find a workplace efficiently 2. A light lunch downtown after work 3. Return to his business residence by public transport	Pain Spot： 1. Road signs unknown 2. There is no clear timetable for the metro, which makes Will feel a bit nervous about missing the last train.
Name: Will Adeson Age：43 Occupation： Sales Manager Personality： Active, Assertive  Trip Type： Business trips (1 day - 1 week)	Scenario： Will came to Newcastle on a business trip to Santander Bank in the city centre to negotiate a finance deal. As Will works very hard, it is often late at night after work and he has to return to his business accommodation by public transport.

	Goals： 1.A good rest when tired of shopping 2.Recharge her electronic devices	Pain Spot： 1.The seats are now very hard and uncomfortable to sit on. 2.Seats are cold in winter 3.No convenient place to charge your phone
Name: Zoey Wang Age：23 Occupation: International students Key words: Cheerful, Curious Trip Type：1 year	Scenario： Zoey enjoys going shopping in the city center with his friends and sometimes gets tired of shopping and needs to rest on a public bench. During her breaks, Zoey tries to charge her low battery phone so that she can continue playing in peace.

	Goals： 1.Enjoyable travel with her own children 2.Take good care of her baby	Pain Spot： 1.Her children often cried when resting on the seats outside the mall because there were no toys  2.She can't find a suitable place to throw away the nappies she changes for her children
Name: Ann Christia Age：34 Occupation: Housewife Key words: Tender, Careful Trip Type：2 week	Scenario： Ann took her 3-year-old baby to the famous tourist city of Newcastle for some fun. She was happy shopping, but she also needed a break, but found that nothing to play with on the bench for her baby, so her baby kept crying and making her anxious. No place to throw away the nappies you change for your child

Individual Problem Statements and their Solutions

Our main aim in creating the new city centre elements was to make the street furniture innovative and interactive while also fixing problems. After speaking with a few visitors on Northumberland Street, we compiled a list of some of their problems. Henceforward we brainstormed on the possible solutions to these problems. Here are the issues faced and their corresponding solutions:

1. Inefficient dustbin design

Issue: The exterior of the dustbins frequently becomes very dirty. Instead of risking contact with the trash can, people prefer to throw their rubbish near/over the bin or hold onto their waste. The area around the bins sometimes gives off a bad odor. Another issue with the bins is that they often fill up before the trash is removed. However, it is the trash's surface area, not its volume, that causes the bins to fill up so quickly.

Solution: Our redesigned dustbins will have a sensor over them to avoid contact with the bin. On activating the sensor, the flaps of the bins open up inwards and then close automatically, thus scrapping the issue of odor and dirty exterior. Our bins have two different compartments for different kinds of waste. We’ve also added a compressing unit inside the dustbins that compresses the trash every time the flaps close so that the trash occupies less space. In addition, we've chosen to install a section for people to put their used cigarettes in, as well as a sanitising unit with sensors that will dispense the necessary amount of liquid when activated.

    Fig1.1 Old design Fig 1.2    New design

Fig 1.3 New design being used

2. Suboptimal seating area 

Issue: The design of the city centre benches does not take into account all heights. Very tall/ short people might struggle while sitting on the benches. The benches are not comfortable to sit on for an extended period. 

Solution: To tackle the above issue we have designed adjustable seats. The seats will also have good cushioning making them comfortable to sit on. The height and angle of seats can be adjusted using the buttons on the side of the seat. The bottom of the seats has charging ports equipped with three different cable types (micro USB, lightening and C-type cables). 

                Fig 2.1 Old design                                        Fig 2.2 New design

Fig 1.3 New design being used

3. Lack of information regarding available public transport

Issue: Visitors do not have access to live updates on buses and the metro. As they are new to the city and are not familiar with the routes, it makes it more challenging for them to reach their destination. Understanding bus schedules is difficult. There is no signage or proper information on metro schedules. 

Solution: We have decided to add digital screens on the street that display bus and metro updates, including bus and metro names/ numbers, time until arrival, city maps and daily routes, and a list of all stops with their corresponding estimated time of arrival.

Fig 3.1

      

                                  Fig 3.2

4. Difficulty in navigating one’s way around the street to buy a specific product/ get access to a service

Issue: Northumberland Street is the hub of all the multiple major stores making it strenuous for visitors to locate a particular store. Finding a certain item gets even more difficult because the street also has an entrance through the Elden Square shopping centre. Moreover, it could be very difficult to make purchases for new visitors because they might be unfamiliar with the brand names.

Solution: We’ve decided to add interactive screens that act as a help hub. People can use this screen to know which shop to enter in order to buy a specific item or obtain the required service. The help hub then gives them directions to the desired store(s). Additionally, this interactive screen also lets users zoom in on metro/bus route maps.

Fig 4.1

Final solution:

Our group came to the conclusion that all potential solutions to the challenges could be combined into a single element. Therefore, we created a seating ecosystem. The ecosystem consists of adjustable, comfy seats with charging ports, digital screens showing information regarding transport system, and interactive help hubs. The ecosystem also includes built-in heaters for when it gets too cold, a small table to stand at and eat at, and a floor designed especially for children with sensory walls so they can play there instead of using devices while waiting with their parents. Multiple ecosystems will be installed throughout the city centre street.