Google Direct
Optimizing navigation processes on college campuses
In October 2023, I led the design of Google Direct from researching, identifying problems, and designing.
Timeline
October 2023 (2 weeks)
Role
Lead Designer
Tools
Figma, Illustrator
Team
Jessica Wang (SWE)
Context
Many navigation systems have basic functionalities, but there are still many issues in time efficiency and accessibility…
problem
How can we streamline and enhance navigation across large campuses to support individual accessibility needs?
Campus buildings have many entrances, and not all are accessible or always open. According to our research, 90% of users have felt frustrated when they were using Google Maps when navigating campus. We chose to focus on the core navigation experience to understand how to curate a better tool for this.
Solution
Google Direct provides real-time updates on campus building entrances closures and wheelchair-accessible doors. This solution allows users to personally select the most suitable entrances based on their needs, aiming to significantly improve accessibility and navigation for students on campus.
Ux research
Three main pillars for our approach
Existing Issues
What are the common pain points during users' navigation experiences?
Flexibility
Can the system support different types of user needs?
Efficiency
How can we quantify the efficiency of navigation systems in large campuses?
Research methods: Surveys, user interviews, & ethnographic research
To understand the current experience of navigation on university campuses, we conducted immersive research with 30 participants, 10 of whom had wheelchair-accessibility issues.
Key Insights
Students don't have access to accurate navigation routes
We conducted two ethnographic studies where participants searched for open doors during after-hours and wheelchair-accessible doors during normal hours. During after-hours, most buildings leave only one door open that can be accessed with a student ID.
Key Pain Points
Ambiguity
A key takeaway we observed was that ambiguous drop off location given by the Maps app significantly affected the overall journey time by an additional 2-4 minutes.
Lack of real-time updates
Campus buildings require student IDs to enter after-hours, and only selected doors are available. 90% of people have felt frustrated when trying to find an open door during after hours.
Lack of personalization
The current system does not cater to the diverse needs of individuals. 60% of people with mobile disabilities or injuries need assistance from strangers at least 5 times a week.
Inconsistency
The lack of information and consistency about entrance hours creates delays in students journey time, leaving them confused and late for meetings or classes.
This problem of inaccurate navigation compounds into greater ones as they have unreliable directions from the very beginning of their journey.
Current Journey Map
From our ethnographic research, we depicted pain points in the user journey when using the current Google Maps.
User quotes
All this boils down to the need to…
Increase time efficiency
UX friendly interface where users can easily find real-time information
More personalization for users
THE DESIGN GOAL
We designed a system where students personally select the exact destination they want. This functions similarly to geotagging a drop-off point when calling an Uber to an apartment building with multiple entrances.
Low-Fidelity wireframes
changes that were made for accessibility
Instead of the toggle at the right corner, I restructured the user flow by allowing users to select their preferences at the beginning of the journey, allowing for further personalization.
For accessibility concerns such as color blindness, I changed unavailable doors to "X" marks for readability.
Core Experiences
Select the building entrance you would like to enter through
Giving users real-time entrance hours and allowing them to select the best entrance such as wheelchair access for their needs.
Real-Time Updates
Automatically updates entrance availability statuses depending on day or night.
Favorite and save routes
For those who need wheelchair-accessible entrances, save the entrances you took on previous routes for future references.
Final Experience & Findings
Final research: Usability testing
To understand the new experience of navigation on university campuses, we conducted usability tests and tested out our prototype for the HUB building on campus.
Key results
Surveyed and tested among the original 30 participants
Reduction in travel time by 2.5 minutes on average
Participants were 85% more satisfied with the new journey flow and claimed to be less confused and frustrated
100% increase in user satisfaction among users with disabilities, demonstrating a more inclusive and accessible platform.
Reflection
If we were to do this again…
During our research phase, we found the UW’s Accessibility Guide Map which would be integrated through our product using the Google Maps/Cloud APIs and Visual Studio Code. This map contains all information about accessible and non-accessible entrances on campus buildings.
