Group Project
Service Designing for Long-Term Parkers at Cykelparkeringshuset
Enhancing Bike Parking Experience
Overview
Cykelparkeringshuset, a bike parking garage in Uppsala, Sweden, faces low adoption rates despite offering modern amenities. This project applies user-centered principles in service design, identifies key pain points, and proposes a digitalized solution that integrates RFID with mobile app to streamline check-in, check-out, and payments.
Year/
2023
Team/
Jimi De Binder
Yuanxi Jiang
Fredrik Johansson Nouman Maqbool Nafiseh Olokhani Muneeb Sarfraz
My Role/
UX Researcher
Product Designer
SCRUM Master
Research & Methodology
Objectives
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Identify the challenges long-term parkers face.
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Analyze factors that result in low adoption rates of the parking service.
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Develop a solution through a user-centered service design to simplify the parking experience.
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Evaluate and refine the prototype through user testing.
Methodology
To ensure the collaborative progress, this design process borrows concepts from the SCRUM framework, and focusing on Research, Ideation, and Prototyping:
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Research:
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Observations & Short interviews with 11 participants provided initial insights on parking habits and challenges.
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Identify stakeholders: long-term parkers, municipality authorities, and garage personnel.
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Ideation:
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Created personas, stakeholder maps, and user journey maps to synthesize insights.
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Ran ideation workshops:
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Used Brain Dumping, Brainstorming, 'How Might We' questions, Clustering, Dot Voting, and Idea Portfolio techniques.
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Prototyping:
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Developed lo-fi prototypes by sketches and wireframes.
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Created high-fidelity prototypes using Figma, applying Jakob’s Law and Fitts’ Law.
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Refined designs based on user testing feedback.
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Walkthrough current app
Persona
Ideation
Design Process & Prototyping
User Journey Mapping & Ideation
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User Journey Maps were created to visualize the long-term parker experience, identifying key pain points such as difficulty in check-ins, forgotten payments, and lack of clarity in parking rules.
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Service Blueprinting was used to analyze frontstage (user-facing) and backstage (system-level) interactions.
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Brainstorming & Concept Development sessions generated multiple solutions, which were refined through stakeholder feedback.
Wireframing & Prototyping
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Lo-Fi Sketching: Initial concept sketches helped define information hierarchy and core interactions.
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Wireframing in Figma: Created digital wireframes with a focus on Jakob’s Law (familiar interface patterns) and Fitts’ Law (touchpoint accessibility).
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Hi-Fi Prototyping: Developed interactive high-fidelity prototypes incorporating branding, accessibility guidelines, and refined UX flows.
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Iteration Process: Conducted multiple usability testing rounds with real users, refining based on feedback on navigation, text clarity, and button placements.
Some wireframes and sketches
Proposed Solution: RFID & Mobile App Integration
Our final design combines RFID tags and a mobile application to streamline the entire parking process. The system includes:
RFID Tags for touchless service:
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Check-in & Check-out: NFC scanners at garage entrances detect RFID tags attached to bikes.
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Over-parking & Unauthorized Parking Control: Non-tagged bikes are locked, requiring app registration and fine payment for release.
Mobile Application Features
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Auto Payment & Balance Management
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Parking Notifications: Entry, exit, overdue warnings
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Location Tracking & User Account Management
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Instant Access to Parking Rules & Rates
Project Management Approach
We implemented Agile & Scrum for development:
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Sprint-based Iterations: Adjusted backlog based on testing feedback.
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Stand-up Meetings & Sprint Reviews: Ensured continuous progress tracking.
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Gantt Chart for Timeline Management: Helped structure deliverables and milestones.
While Scrum improved collaboration and iterative testing, challenges included task estimation difficulties and maintaining consistent documentation updates.
Evaluation & Testing
User Testing & Iterations
Two rounds of evaluation were conducted with 13 participants (long-term and potential parkers). We used:
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Parallel Prototype Testing: Users compared two prototype versions and provided feedback.
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User Testing & Think-Aloud Protocol: Observing participants as they navigated the app.
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Post-Task Interviews: Understanding perceptions and usability concerns.
Strengths of this design solution:
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Parking Efficiency Improved: RFID check-ins significantly reduced time spent at the entrance.
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Usability Challenges Identified: Users preferred minimalist UI with clear navigation.
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Payment Transparency Enhanced: In-app auto-payments and reminders reduced confusion.
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Future Scalability: The solution aligns with Uppsala’s plan to expand bike parking capacity from 3,481 to 10,400 slots.
Test our final prototype HERE
Product backlog and sprint board
Next Step:
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Investigate RFID vs. QR Code solutions for cost efficiency.
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Explore behavioral incentives to encourage higher garage usage.
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Study real-world adoption metrics post-implementation.