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Mission: Varberg,
a Smart Connected City

MY ROLE
User Research
Workshop Facilitator
Evaluation
THE WHAT
THE WHY
THE HOW
DELIVERABLES
Usability Testing
Concept
Wireframes
YEAR
2020

We developed a concept for lockers designed to safely store and charge e-bike batteries. The app lets users unlock a locker to store and charge their battery. The app shows a map with available stations and free lockers. Users can lock and unlock the locker via the app and keep track of the State of Charge on the battery.

In this project our team of five worked with Varberg Energi as the client. Their goal was for us to develop a concept aimed at making Varberg a smarter city through the use of the Internet of Things (IoT). The challenge for our group was to identify and design applications that would improve the community's situation while also being health-promoting and beneficial for the residents of Varberg.
Since the design output is meant to be for the community of Varberg. We decided to implement participatory design through the project. Including the users & stakeholders in the decisionmaking of the design. By including the users and stakeholders, it helped us guide the way how to conduct our research, ideation and validation of the concept.

Research

Analyze

Ideation

Validation

INTRODUCTION

We began the project by ideating potential areas to focus on, as the scope was initially broad and needed to be narrowed down. To do this, we hosted  a brainstorming session with the team, where the goal was to answer the question,

"How can we make Varberg a smarter city with the help of IoT?"

 

The area we chose to narrow our focus on was sustainability in personal transportation. 

SURVEY

To learn what challenges users are facing in this area I designed a survey to gather quantitative data. The survey asked various questions about transportation habits, what they transport themselves with and how they rate Varbergs transportation options.

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We wanted to gather responses from people who live in Varberg or have some connection to the city, such as through work or studies. To reach this group, we shared the survey in a Facebook group for Varberg, which has around 16,000 members. A total of 142 people responded to the survey, providing us with valuable insights to inform the direction of our qualatative study.

INTERVIEWS

To gain a deeper understanding of how users choose their modes of transportation and what influences their decisions. We decided to conduct semi-structured interviews. We carried out these interviews with five individuals, aged 22 to 62, with a mix of genders, living in Varberg or nearby coastal areas.

 

The goal of the interviews was to explore what could encourage the citizens of Varberg to switch to more environmentally friendly modes of transportation. The interviews lasted between 15 to 30 minutes.

142
Survey Responses

5
Interviews

15-30 min
Interview Length

Research

Analyze

Ideation

Validation

"It's inconvenient to lock a bicycle, as the bike locks are cumbersome to carry."
"Owning a bicycle is a security risk; it can easily be stolen."
"I appreciate exercise in everyday life, because there is little time for it after work."

Thematic Coding Process

We began by transcribing all interview data and thoroughly reviewing the content. Thematic coding helped us to break down the data into manageable segments and identify recurring topics. These topics were then grouped into broader themes that captured the key concerns and motivations of our participants. Our goal was to gain a deep understanding of the challenges faced by commuters, as well as the factors that influence their decisions and behaviors.

Thematic Coding

Key Themes Identified

Through the thematic coding process, we identified 11 key themes that represent the major aspects of the commute experience for our participants, but we mainly focused on these three themes:
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  • Security – Bicycle theft was a common issue, with participants citing how difficult it can be to securely lock their bikes and prevent theft.

  • Time The amount of time required to commute was a deciding factor of what mode of transportation the person chose.

  • Distance - The distance between origin and destination was often mentioned as a key influence. Users tended to choose modes of transport based on how far they needed to travel and how well those modes of transport accommodated longer or shorter distances.

Refining the Design Focus

Originally, the research question was more broadly framed around transportation choices in general. However, after analyzing the data, we decided to narrow the scope to explore how IoT products could improve cycling as a safe and efficient transportation option.

Therefore, we refined our research question to:

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"How can IoT products be designed to promote cycling in a community?"

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This new direction directly addressed the safety and convenience challenges we identified through our analysis, and gave us a clear focus for designing solutions that could encourage cycling as a preferred mode of transportation.

Research

Analyze

Ideation

Validation

Workshop with Potential Users
I conducted a workshop with potential users. The workshop involved 7 participants, including 2 women and 5 men, all students from various programs at a university.

I aimed to explore their perspectives on cycling and identify opportunities for improvement.​

Why?

I organized this workshop to honor participatory design principles. By involving users early on in the design process, I wanted to ensure that their perspectives, needs, and ideas were directly incorporated into our solution. We believe that involving potential users not only helps refine the design but also creates solutions that are more relevant and user-centered. This approach also fosters a sense of ownership and collaboration, ensuring the final product will truly address the real challenges users face.

21
Concepts

100
Individual Ideas

How?

The workshop was structured in several phases:

  1. Introduction and Ethical Guidelines:
    I began by explaining the participants' rights, including the ability to withdraw at any time, the option to skip questions, and the confidentiality of their responses. I also obtained permission to record the session for reference. All ethical guidelines followed the Swedish Research Council's principles.

  2. Warm-up Exercise (Mind Mapping):
    The participants created mind maps, writing down associations with the word "Bicycle" on an A3 sheet. This exercise helped them focus on cycling-related issues and set the stage for the subsequent tasks.

  3. Ideation (6-3-5 Method):
    The participants were divided into two groups, where they applied the 6-3-5 method (6 ideas, 3 rounds, 5 minutes per round). In total, 21 concepts were developed, leading to 100 individual ideas.

  4. Concept Sharing and Discussion:
    After the ideation phase, each participant read out their concepts, and the group discussed the strengths and areas for improvement. I facilitated the discussion by asking questions and guiding the conversation without influencing the participants' opinions.

Workshop with the Client

Me and a student colleague facilitated a workshop with three key stakeholders from Varberg Energi to evaluate the concept ideas generated during our earlier workshop. The goal was to gather feedback and gain perspectives from the client.

Why?

The primary reason for this workshop was to involve our client—Varberg Energi—in the decision-making process. By giving them the opportunity to rank and provide feedback on the concepts, we ensured that their perspectives and insights were incorporated into the design process.

Jamboard with ideas.png

How?

Before the workshop, we summarized the ideas from the previous workshop into short descriptions with titles. We used Collaborative Jamboard, so participants could visually interact with the ideas. This method aimed to make the workshop feel more interactive and tangible, ensuring participants felt actively engaged.

 

Given the challenges of  COVID-19, we chose a digital format (Zoom) to accommodate the situation. 

 

During the workshop, the stakeholders ranked the ideas based on their own criteria. This was followed by a discussion about which concepts they found most promising and why.

 

After the workshop, we compared the top-ranked ideas with the problems identified in our earlier user studies to check for alignment and see if the concepts addressed the users’ needs. At this point of the project we decided to go with a concept which focused on charging lockers strategically placed along rural areas to facilitate long-distance travel for e-bike users. The accompanying application would also provide users with information about points of interest along the route.

Stakeholder Mapping

To help us see the bigger picture we created a stakeholder map to identify the key players who would be impacted by our service and determine which stakeholders were most crucial to consider.

 

Through this process, we realized that the concept was attempting to address too many stakeholder groups at once.

 

After further discussions with our client and advisor, we decided to narrow our focus by removing the part of the application that provide points of interest along the route. This shift led to the formulation of a new research question:


"How can IoT products be designed to promote secure storage for e-bike commuters?"

StakeholderMap.png

Prototype

The team developed a prototype of the mobile application connected to the lockers, using Figma. When creating the prototype, we drew inspiration from parking apps like EasyPark, especially for the user interface design. For example, we implemented a central button in the bottom menu for easy navigation to the user’s current rental or parking spot. Additionally, we made sure that the locker information is always visible in the top field of the screen if the user has rented a locker.​

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The app allows users to search for specific locker stations using a search bar or map feature. Users can search by location or station number to find lockers or simply select a station by tapping on the map. Once a station is selected, users can press on a lock icon to rent a random locker. 

​​The app also displays the remaining rental time and the battery charge level if a battery is plugged into the locker.

If the user frequently visits a station, they can add it to their favorites by tapping the heart icon. All favorite stations are collected in the "Favorites" section for easy access.

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Figma Prototype Preview

Rectangle (1).png
LockScreen.png

Research

Analyze

Ideation

Validation

A/B Testing - Validating Safety

Since safety was a important pain point in our user research, we knew this was an important part to evaluate and wanted to include in our evaluation.

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For the evaluation we conducted test with two individuals that commuted by e-bike.

How?

For the evaluation, we used two almost identical prototypes differing only in the locking functionality, as we primarily wanted to focus the users' attention on this feature. We also created two storyboards for the different methods to provide users with a clear picture of how they differed in practice. Our participants then tested both prototypes using our storyboards to understand how the different ideas would work in practice. Afterward, they were asked to choose which method felt the safest and most convenient to use, while also providing reasoning for their answers.

 

Outcome

The In-App Lock feature ended up being the favourite, as the users expressed they felt it was more intuitive. One discussion that arose was that one user had a cracked screen, which they asked if it would affect the QR-reader on the locker. From a accessibility standpoint we learned that the QR - Lock Feature could be problematic as well.

QR Lock/Unlock -Prototype
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StoryboardAPP.png
PrototypeQRLock.png
PrototypeInAppLock.png

How does the design support our users goals?

By focusing on user goals & managing stakeholder interests during the process we managed to narrow a broad area to design for and here's how our design support their goals:

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  • Safety - the lockers provide a safe place to store e-bike batteries, reducing the worry of theft. Users can lock and unlock the locker through the app, making it secure and reducing the risk of theft, which was a common concern among users.

  • Time - The app saves users time by allowing them to charge their batteries while they are not using them. Users can find nearby lockers, store their battery, and charge it, so they don’t waste time waiting for their battery to charge at home. The app also shows which lockers are available in real-time, making the process quicker and more efficient.

  • Distance - The app helps users travel longer distances by showing nearby locker stations where they can store and charge their batteries along the way. This makes it easier for users to choose e-bikes for longer trips, as they can recharge and continue their journey without worrying about battery life or security.

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Reflection

In this project I learned how difficult it can be to start a design project from a very broad context to try to design for, but thanks to thoughtful use of methods to help us narrow down the focus, the concept started to make more sense over time. By facilitating workshops, I also got experience in managing the groups focus on the goal of the task, as conversations could lead away from the task. It was also a challenge to try to align user goals with stakeholder expectations. In this project we were given much freedom, but I can imagine that these kind of situations can get much difficult to navigate through in a business context.

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