PARK BUDDY

A stress-free parking experience for commuters at San Jose State University

TIMELINE

Aug - Sep 2021

PLATFORM

Mobile Device

Introduction

My Role

Problem Statement

TOOLS

Adobe Illustrator
Figma

Students and faculty at SJSU have been struggling with parking issues. Despite having over 30,000 enrolled students, there are only 4,125 parking spaces available. A survey revealed that 40% of students spend 15-30 minutes searching for parking, and 75% have been late to class as a result. The ParkBuddy App aims to alleviate these issues by providing students with a real-time parking map, occupancy percentage, messaging feature, and more for a stress-free parking experience. stress-free parking experience.

I led the market research, wireframing, and prototyping of this re-design. I collaborated with my partner, Rachel Lee, on the visual direction and final designs of the re-designed paths.

SJSU's parking shortage, with 30,000 students and only 4,125 spaces, causes significant delays and frustration. Current apps, Parkstash and Parkmobile, are inadequate—Parkstash lacks payment features and only shows off-campus availability, while Parkmobile has fees and a confusing interface. The need to switch between these apps increases student frustration, necessitating a more seamless and efficient parking solution.

Goals

Increase Parking Availability Awareness

  • Provide real-time parking space availability updates specific to SJSU parking garages.

  • Display detailed occupancy information for each parking level to reduce time spent searching for spaces.

Simplify Payment Process

  • Enable students to reserve parking spots in advance within the SJSU campus.

  • Integrate a seamless in-app payment system for reservations to avoid the need for external apps.

Reduce Time Spent Searching for Parking:

  • Implement a smart algorithm to predict parking availability based on historical data and current trends.

  • Offer suggestions for alternative parking options when garage is full.

Support Sustainable and Eco-friendly Practices

  • Promote carpooling by allowing users to find and share rides with others.

  • Include features to locate and reserve spots for electric vehicle charging.

Market Research

Current parking applications used by SJSU students, such as Parkstash and Parkmobile, offer some functionality but fall short of delivering a seamless and efficient parking experience tailored to the unique needs of the SJSU community.

Parkstash provides live parking occupancy data and a reservation feature, but it is limited to showing occupancy percentages, and its reservation feature is restricted to private off-campus spaces. Additionally, Parkstash lacks an integrated payment function, requiring students to use Parkmobile for transactions.

Parkmobile provides convenient features such as remote extension of parking sessions and expiration reminders. However, it charges a transaction fee for each payment and has a confusing user interface.

User Research

The surveys aim to assess SJSU commuters’ parking challenges, evaluate the effectiveness of current parking apps like Parkmobile, and identify key issues and areas for improvement. They measure the frequency of parking-related delays, the time spent searching for parking, and overall user satisfaction. Our user research also helps us understand users’ interest in new features, such as a point reward system and advanced buddy-finding options.

ROLE

Creative Direction
Market Research
User Testing
Synthesizing
Prototyping

Close to 60% of these commuters use the Parkmobile app to pay for parking. However, they rate the current app, Parkmobile, as average. With additional features such as a point reward system, it will also help increase the number of people who use the app.

Final Versions

The survey reveals that over 50% of commuters have been late to class due to parking difficulties, with about 43% spending 15-30 minutes daily searching for parking. The current app, Parkmobile, is rated as average.

Many found the reloading and buffering issues to be the most frustrating with current apps used. While this problem appears to be more prevalent in certain areas of the garages, we've implemented an option for commuters to search for a parking buddy up to 30 minutes before they park. This allows commuters to connect with a buddy before entering a garage where their service might not be reliable.