top of page

PATH Kiosk

UX Design
​

The PATH has long been one of Toronto’s most underutilized infrastructures due to the sheer difficulty of navigating it. This is our solution.

happy PATH.jpg

Project Overview

Tools: Figma, FigJam

Duration: October - December 2023

Skills: Primary and Secondary Research, Ideation, Storyboarding, Low-Fi Wireframes, Mid-Fi Wireframes, Prototyping  

Team Members: Amy Lester, Grace Yip, Kristina Brown, Marcus Chen, Salem Schewai

​

This project was conducted for a graduate-level UX fundamentals course. 

Research

To get an understanding of what issues PATH users encounter and the root causes of them we began by conducting some secondary research to get an understanding of the problem space. It was clear from the start that users felt as though the PATH was confusing and hard to navigate. Following we conducted some primary research through interviews, surveys, and observations. From our 12 interviews and 44 participant survey results some key discoveries we noted is that although users find the PATH to be clean, quick, useful, and sheltered from the intense Toronto weather, they also find the signage confusing, and hard to navigate.

Through our observations, we noted similar testament as there were few or small signage, confusing colour coding systems, and multiple versions of the maps and signage within the PATH. 

Signage.png

To read our full research report click here.

To better sympathize with our users we created our Persona Lost Lisa based on our research. Additionally, we displayed our findings through an Empathy Map and As-Is Scenario.

Persona

PATH Persona.jpg

Empathy Map

Empathy Map.jpg

As-Is Scenario

Ideation

Starting the ideation stage, we developed needs statements to pinpoint the requirements our product should address to solve Lost Lisa’s pain points. 

2 Needs Statements.png

With her needs in mind, we began developing some big ideas on possible solutions we could implement, and through voting and a prioritization grid, our team was able to pinpoint our solution. A PATH Kiosk. 

4 Big Ideas.png
12 Prioritization Grid (Slide 1).png
14 Prioritization Grid (Slide 2).png
6 Big Ideas.png

Lo-FI StoryBoard

Next, we began drawing some low-fidelity wireframes of our PATH Kiosk. These were then converted into a storyboard based on three key task flows that we identified.

Ideation.png
Task Flow 1.png
Task Flow 2.png
Task Flow 3.png

Lean Evaluation

To test our initial designs we conducted two lean evaluations through the Guerrilla Usability Testing method. 

 

We found that users liked 

  1. Having the estimated number of minutes it will take for someone to walk through the PATH to their destination

  2. Having information aspects such as weather and time on the screen and additional language and accessibility options

  3. Having multiple ways to view the map/steps (printed /QR code /e-mail /text) 

 

But also felt like we could improve by 

  1. Clearly indicating “You Are Here”

  2. Enlarging the directory 

  3. Adding in features such as an “expand map” button and a  “help” button 

Following our evaluations, we implemented our findings and I created a Mid-Fi Clickable Prototype to demonstrate our solution.

Mid-Fi Prototype

Next STeps

Given infinite time within this course there would still be a lot that we could accomplish with this project. Namely, some things we considered would be to expand our device compatibility to include a range of devices, take another look at our step-by-step instructions, and further user test our product to refine or implement features such as introducing additional 3D mapping. 

Takeaways

This problem was particularly challenging as it was very much a wayfinding issue that we were trying to solve through a product. In addition to considering what features we could implement we spent a lot of time discussing what physical changes could be made in the PATH that would also be beneficial. This project highlights how sometimes the best solution (like redesigning the entire infrastructure) isn’t always going to be the feasible solution. But if implemented, our solution would still make a large impact.

bottom of page