University of Birmingham MSc Computer Sciencerjh/courses/IntroductionToHCI/2013-14/... ·...

University of Birmingham

MSc Computer Science

2013-2014

Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction

Supervisor: Bob Hendley

Multi - Storey Car Park Reservation System

Team 15

Awat Aldoski

Basak Oren

Maryam Hatami

Reshma Shawar

Yidan Wang

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... 2

Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... 4

Problem definition...................................................................................................................... 5

Review of Exsisting Systems .................................................................................................... 6

LiteratureReview…..…………………………………………………………………………11

Personas and Scenarios ............................................................................................................ 17

Student .................................................................................................................................. 19

Elderly Lady ......................................................................................................................... 21

Disabled Person .................................................................................................................... 24

Middle-aged family Man ...................................................................................................... 26

First generation prototypes ....................................................................................................... 28

Mock up prototype 1: ............................................................................................................... 28

Presentation ....................................................................................................................... 28

Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 30

Pros ................................................................................................................................... 30

Cons .................................................................................................................................. 31

Nielsen Heuristic's evaluations ......................................................................................... 32

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 32

Mock up prototype 2: ........................................................................................................... 33

Presentation ....................................................................................................................... 33

Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 36

Pros ................................................................................................................................... 37

Cons .................................................................................................................................. 38

Nielsen Heuristic's for second prototype .......................................................................... 38

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 39

Mock up prototype 3: ........................................................................................................... 40

Presentation ....................................................................................................................... 41

Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 43

Pros ................................................................................................................................... 44

Cons .................................................................................................................................. 44

Nielsen Heuristic's for third prototype .............................................................................. 45

Conclusion of low level prototype...........................................................................................46

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Second generation prototype .................................................................................................... 48

Evaluation of tools ................................................................................................................... 48

Process .............................................................................................................................. 49

Balsamiq Mockups ........................................................................................................... 48

Microsoft Powerpoint ....................................................................................................... 49

Adobe Photoshop .............................................................................................................. 49

Presentation ....................................................................................................................... 49

Plan for evaluation of the prototype ..................................................................................... 59

Scenarios .............................................................................................................................. 62

Nielsen Heuristic's ................................................................................................................ 65

User testing and heuristics .................................................................................................... 66

User 1 ................................................................................................................................ 66

User 2 ................................................................................................................................ 66

User 3 ................................................................................................................................ 68

User 4 ................................................................................................................................ 67

User 5 ................................................................................................................................ 67

Result Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 68

Recommendation .................................................................................................................. 69

Summary/Achievements ...................................................................................................... 70

Appendix .................................................................................................................................. 72

References ................................................................................................................................ 73

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Abstract

Aimed to design an efficient parking system, which guides drivers to find an empty parking place in

multi-storey car parks, this can be viewed as next generation car parking system. we first reviewed

some existing systems including online reservation parking system, external guidance parking

system, and automatic parking system etc., Both advantages and disadvantages have been discussed

for all the existing system. Secondly, in order to determine the requirements of such parking system,

three types of different classes of user that the system is aimed at have been presented. We derived

three scenarios for each persona that could clarify the user requirements. To meet most of the

requirements, we developed three low fidelity prototypes, each with different approaches based on

simple touch screens with different options which is aimed at most of the classes of users, the

reservation system and a voice guidance system were designed. For each low fidelity prototype, we

have undertaken an evaluation, set of conclusions and recommendations, which could help us to

improve our final design. Based on low level designs and experiences we moved forward to our

second, high fidelity prototype with combination of the features implemented in the first. To

evaluate our high fidelity prototype we setup mock up system evaluation with real user for their

experience with the system. We also provided those users with set of questionnaire to evaluate our

final design based on Nielsen's heuristics. Finally, the analysis of evaluation and conclusion is

presented with a set of recommendation for the project that might be taken in the future.

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Problem definition

The endless search for free spaces in a car park is a burden for a driver who wants to park his/her

car. Finding a free space in a car park is very difficult in multi-storey car parks places such as

shopping centers, airports, leisure centers and so forth. Searching for a free space to park wastes lot

of time and has negative impacts on a person’s quality of life. In a busy city, almost every third

driver is looking for a parking spot.

There is no system in place in that allows a driver to follow the direction, or rather guides him/her

to a free space in multi-storey car parks. On busy days, drivers aimlessly wander almost the whole

of the car park just to find a single place where he/she can park their car.

This is exactly where modern automation technologies and computer science can be successfully

applied. There is a need for a system that guides a driver to a free space in multi-storey car parks. At

all most, all the multi-storey car park there is a digital display of number of available spaces but

there is no any system that displays or gives information of where those free spaces are or rather

guides his to that free spot. The driver has to manually look all around to find one.

Therefore, there might be an urgent need to improve the efficiency of any car park and to enhance

the customer experience, taking the pain out of parking.

In order to overcome the above mentioned problem we designed a system for multi-storey car

parks which allows a user to look at the options and the availability of free spots and guides them to

their preferred parking space. In order to create such a system, we took the following actions:

Evaluation of Existing parking system

Analysis of user requirements using different personas and scenarios

Construction of first and second generation prototype

Evaluation of our system using usability and accessibility tests

We are aiming to design a system that gives the driver information about the spaces that are

available to park, including the floor and the navigation to the available place in order to reduce the

frustration of the driver and decrease the time that they have to look for a space as well. We aim to

provide the following:

The system will present a number of available places

The floor where these available places are located

In each floor, information regarding the available places for disabled people

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This include the instruction or navigation to lead the driver to the available place

Include an advanced reservation system in the car park entrance or online.

Review of Existing Systems

As a result of the aforementioned problems that driver faces in parking in car parks, We reviewed

various types of existing systems that are applied in many courtiers to improve the parking facilities

for crowded areas. These different kinds of parking systems not only include information about the

multi-storey parks, they also provide information about all the parking places in the city and provide

navigation to them. There are different types of car parking management system available in

various countries. We looked at few of them below:

Lot-Specific Parking Information Systems

Lot-specific systems use signs to provide parking information that typically contain simple

directions to parking facilities and advise for drivers to find the available space using signs that

typically have both passive and active components. The passive component provides simple

directions to parking facilities, such as with an arrow. The active component supplements the

passive component to advise the traveller of the availability of

spaces at the facility. The Chicago Metra Park-and-Ride and the Seattle Centre advanced parking

management systems both use signs to provide lot-specific information. Figure 1 shows one of the

signs

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External Guidance System

At the parking entrance, it presents the vacant

slots in every level/location with variable

message signs (VMS).

Additional traffic instruction can be offered to

further help parking guidance at your

perimeter.

Internal Guidance System

Helps the customer by guiding them with

directional signs that display green arrows for

vacant slots and red cross for full one, as well

it displaying the disable vacant places at each

level.

Vacant places are visible from a distance with

single space detectors mounted at the top of

each slot. Thus, the customer will be informed which places are available and which are full.

Advantages

Displays the number of available spaces in the entrance of car park, in the entrance of each level,

and at the end of each aisle.

Displays the directional signage for each aisle, showing the drivers which direction to follow

Different coloured LED lights to differentiate between spaces (reserved, occupied, vacant or

handicapped)

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Payment fee facilitate by Touch’n’Go module.

Assigns spaces beside each directional sign for advertising purposes.

Avoids improper parking - a line will be detected by the system.

Floor-, Aisle-, and Space- Specific Parking Information Systems

These provide information about the number of places in the car park, including both full and empty

places. They provide more detailed information and are placed in the entrance of car park, on each

floor, at the beginning of every aisle and even in front of every individual place of parking

This system helps the parking management to manage the parking inventory, allows them to obtain

accurate up-to-the-minute data and helps keep the car park open to its true capacity.

One would expect, as a disadvantage, such a system to be expensive.

Advantages

Increased customer satisfaction/loyalty.

Reduced vehicle build-up at entries, exits, and aisles.

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Shorter vacant slot search times resulting in less vehicle emissions.

Avoid congestion and unwanted traffic with the help of effective signage within the car parks

At shopping centers, customers can spend more time shopping rather than looking for parking

spaces and they will value convenient parking experience.

At airports, traffic congestion at entrances will be reduced and customers will reach boarding

gates on time.

Disadvantages

From the customer perspective, there is no opportunity to reserve a place in advance, which may

lead to the congestion in front of some available places.

APMS advance parking management system (APMS) :

The system will reduce frustration and enhance the visitor’s experience by helping them to find a

parking space quickly. There will be specialized parking management applications as well. ‘The

applied traveler information concepts cover a wide range of applications, from pre-trip Web-based

information systems to navigation systems that provide turn-by-turn directions all the way to an

individual parking space. There are several different types of advanced parking management

systems currently in use in the U.S. today:

Parking Navigation Systems

The most sophisticated type of advanced parking management system under development is one

that guides the traveller to an open spot.The system relies on sensors within the car parks to transmit

the availability information to the vehicle’s navigation system. It also uses the XM Radio satellite in

order to control the real traffic time of a vehicle. In 2005, XM Satellite Radio, which already

provides real-time traffic information to in-vehicle navigation devices, demonstrated a potential

service called “Dynamic Parking Information.” The service provides XM Radio users with the

number of available parking spaces at specific lots. The in-vehicle display uses color-coded icons to

reflect the percentage of unoccupied spaces.

For example, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport installed a smart

parking system for its hourly and daily garages, which has 13 200 parking spaces. Sensors that are

embedded into each parking space detect whether the space is occupied, and this information is fed

into a central parking management system. The light over each space indicates whether it is

available: green for open, red for occupied.

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Online Reservation Systems

Is one of latest trends in parking management system, this facility enables the driver to reserve a

parking place in any multi-story park through the website or mobile phone application, and pay

online in order to reserve that place, thus they will receive a message containing information about

the place of parking in that car park. This mechanism is very useful for reducing the time it takes to

find a place.

This approach is implemented in many countries such as the U.S. In 2004, Mobile Parking LLC

and Spot Scout TM are two companies that offer clients or drivers the chance to check for available

spaces in about 400 parking area in 50 cities across the U.S., using their radio, cellular telephone, or

computer, it was used to reserve a place in any type of parking area, not only multi- story park.

Benefits:

Reduced time spent looking for parking spaces and reduced frustration of visitors and easier

access to paring place.

Reduced effort for venue operators in order to satisfy the customer, since they will be

responsible for choosing the place not the venue operator.

Parking operators: increased space occupancy and associated increase in revenue as

customers will pay for advanced reservation besides the cost of parking.

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Drawbacks:

Expensive to implement everywhere, the architecture of the system may require a lot of

equipment, which in turn requires a huge budget.

Requires huge amount of time, cost and effort to implement.

Need sophisticated and modern technology.

Literature Review

From a literature studies we found that Kianpisheh et al., (2012) proposed a new parking system

called smart parking system (SPS), which assists the driver in finding a vacant place in a short time.

‘The system is designed for a four-level car park with 100 parking spaces and five aisles on each

floor. The system architecture defines the essential design features such as location of sensors,

required number of sensors and LEDs for each level, and indoor and outdoor display boards’. The

most essential features of the SPS system is to detect and present available parking spaces, direct

towards available spaces, provide payment facilities and various kinds of parking spaces (vacant,

reserved, full and disable). The drivers have to look at the LED board in order to know which type

of space is available in which level and at what time. After finding the preferable space the drivers

will follow the signs, which navigate them to that place, these signs are hanging on the ceiling of

each aisle. Each internal sign contains both the number of

available places and the directions to those places.

In addition, the driver should also notice the light colour,

which determines the status of the place: green means the

space is available, red means the space is full, blue means

the space is assigned for disabled drivers and yellow means

it has been reserved. The green light will automatically

change to red when a driver enters the available space.

Figure shows the four steps of utilizing a car park guidance system.

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The system detection technology relies on two based methods: vision based method, which depends

on CCTV to control the place but it may not be an adequate method since the cameras and image

processing may be affected by the environment. Therefore the sensor based method needs to detect

the car occupancy and improper parking, consequently the vacant place is connected with every

individual parking place ‘Ultrasonic sensors transmit sound waves between 25 kHz and 50 kHz.

It can be concluded, that this system introduces the most appropriate solution for parking

problems, such as finding a free space and directing the driver to that place. Ultrasonic sensors are

also used to detect parking spaces and improper parking. This system will probably reduce time,

cost and effort for finding a vacant place in a multi storey car park.

Further, in another study five categories of smart parking system, which are in common use, are

introduced. They consist of parking guidance and information system (PGI) that use variable

massage displays and other methods such as radios or phones to provide information for drivers.

The transit is based on an information system that has similar functions of PGI and provides

information about the traffic as well. Therefore it directs driver to the car space nearest to the public

transport, smart basement system which uses various types of technologies such as mobile

technology, E-parking is a system whereby information of car park occupancy can be retrieved and

parking space reservation can be done through mobile phones and automated systems, which

includes computer control mechanisms that places the vehicle into a parking space after saving

them a space (Shaheen et al., 2005 ).

In parking guide systems when the driver approaches a car park barrier based on the selected

destination, the system will calculate the nearest empty parking place nearest to the entrance chosen

using the shortest path searching algorithm. They assume that drivers will want to park nearest to

the nearest entrance to avoid long walking distance. In this system, the shortest path calculation is

done using a search algorithm A*. Following the calculation, the empty park place is reserved with

an unique ID that is embedded in a tag driver and is presented with the tag via a ticket dispenser and

the reservation will be expire after 10 minutes. This tag can be used for timing audit to calculate the

parking duration and fee that should be paid by the drivers. It also can guide drivers to their parked

vehicle. This system also allows parking operators to customize the layout of the parking as they

can add, move and remove a parking place at each level. In these articles, ultrasonic sensors were

chosen to detect empty parking spaces. These sensors are non-intrusive sensors, which require

simpler installations compared to intrusive sensors. They can be mounted on the ground or the

ceiling. They believe both car park operators and drivers will benefit from the system as parking

spaces are easily acquired and parking space wastage is reduced. Parking guidance system utilizes

wireless sensor networks and ultrasonic sensor.

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For example, Traffic Tech Group in Middle East Gulf has designed many systems to control traffic

and parking, including the parking guidance system, which involves advice and information for

driver either inside the park or at the neighbour location.

Analysis of automatic parking system

Parking in urban areas has changed a lot in the past few decades. Parking is a scarce and valuable

resource that impacts traffic flow, congestion, and economic vitality. Traditional parking is subject

to various disadvantages, thus new technologies are being introduced to improve revenue, reduce

costs, and make parking more convenient.

Automated car parking management allows for an error-free, fast read, non-duplicable alternative to

the traditional means of site security. Specifically, automatic car parking systems are based around

microcontroller and sensors, and automatic parking solutions are an efficient way to store a large

number of vehicles within a limited space.

For traditional parking systems, more spaces are required for entry and exit. However, with an

automated car parking management system, we can accommodate more cars in less space. This

formula can be applied to almost any city in the world. This is probably the prime reason why

automated car park systems are a very attractive alternative to conventional car parking systems.

The cost of an automated parking system depends on the size and the layout of the property, the

total number of parking spaces required and the required response speed of this system. In addition,

the time for a driver to retrieve their car will depend upon where the car is parked inside the system.

The minimum time needed is 1 minute and the maximum time is 3 minutes. Also, the waiting time

will depend on the peak traffic capacity. Namely, how many cars can be processed in a given time

frame. More specifically, each entry/exit gate can handle 45 cars in one hour. Building an automatic

parking system will take almost a year. More specifically, for a turnkey Robotic Parking System, it

will take 10 to 14 months to build.

From a user perspective, automatic parking system is a very safe and convenient system. The

system virtually eliminates the risk of any vehicle damage or theft and the risk of personal injury or

robbery that can occur in regular car parking because the drivers remains safely outside the building

at all times. Imagine arriving to your destination and rather than having to spend an exorbitant

amount of time driving around looking for a space to park, you drive right up to the car park, drive

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in at ground level into a well lit, easy access entrance area, get out of your car, push a button and

then you simply walk away.

To sum up, a number of benefits could be found by using an automated parking system. Firstly,

because of its safety and security which means no property and vehicles are damages during

parking a car. Secondly, time, money and fuel would be saved since people do not need to find an

empty space or search for their car. In addition, automated parking system is environment-friendly

as fuel is saved for all cars parking. Finally, it is systematic, which enables the system be

customised to accommodate any building style and environment. However, there are definitely

several flaws which limit the prevailing of automated parking system. As a system software, system

clashes cannot be avoided easily and then the cost of monitoring and maintaining the whole system

is enormous and is very hard to estimate. Power down is also needed to be considered, under the

same situation with system clash. Moreover, there are higher construction costs at the initial phase

when building an automatic system and it is not suitable for high peak hour volume.

Review of Apps

Parker

General Approach:

Parker is a free application for mobile devices, which finds a parking space with real - time parking

availability.

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Strengths:

Parker has voice guidance property that warns them when a car park is nearby.

The user can pay the parking fee for available car parks.

The user can set a timer to remind them when the meter is about to expire.

The application helps user to find their car.

The user can use different payment methods (cash, credit card, debit card) and parking

spaces (street parking or car park)

Weakness:

× This application is not available for many cities.

× Pay for parking property is not available for each car park .

× Parker application is not convenient for multi - storey parks.

Delmatic Parking Management System

General Approach:

Delmatic Parking Management System includes parking sensors, electronic display boards and a

graphical software. Parking sensors detects if a parking space is full or not. If that parking space is

full, LEDs illuminate red and for vacant parking spaces LEDs they show a green light. Electronic

display boards show the vacant parking spaces and their location with arrows. Parking management

system provides graphical software to count number of vehicles in and out, and monitors the status

of all parking bay sensors.

Strengths:

Parking bay sensors helps user to notice empty parking spaces easily.

Electronic display boards guide users to find vacant parking spaces.

Electronic display boards guide users to find exit easily.

Graphical software provide to track status of sensors.

Graphical software stores statistical information about parking area.

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Parking management system can integrate with the card - entry.

This system is convenient for multi - storey parks.

Weakness:

× You can't see the whole map of parking area; you still need to search for empty parking

spaces.

Workspace Manager

General Approach:

Workspace manager is a web-based software for booking and managing rooms, desks, visitors and

car parking spaces. This software allows user to book an empty parking space within the required

time and parking area. User can observe previous reservations and searches can be filtered.

Strengths:

The user can see all of the available parking spaces and the map of the car park.

Design is clear for users.

Filter property provides the chance to find an appropriate car park easily.

Filter results based on location, floor level or disabled parking.

You can list your previous reservations.

Weakness:

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× Workspace manager asks user to fill start and end hours for car park booking so the user

should exit from that parking slot before the end of the hour. Extension or renewal property

does not exist if the user wants to use that parking slot a few hours more.

× Mobile application is not as good as web application.

× The user may have some problems with using application for Chrome cause it is not tested

for Google Chrome.

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Personas

In order to determine the requirements and to figure out that to what extent the parking system that

has been studied by the team will facilitate the drivers’ needs; we aim to present three different

class of users of different personas aiming meet each user class needs and reduce their pain point

with the existing system. These three users class we selected young people/students,

elderly/disabled people and Business/family men. Their requirements will be analysed based on the

scenarios.

The purpose behind choosing these classes of users can be illustrated as follows:

Students/young generation: A student is most likely to arrange their time in order to be able to

pan out in their studies. Because they always have to be responsible for attending lectures or

meetings, have to schedule their timetable, having an adequate parking system certainly will

reduce the unpredictable amount of time and effort wasted in looking for car parking by the

young lot and consequently it will help them to manage their time.

Elderly /Disabled people: These kind of people usually need special care since most of them

probably have health problems which oblige them to go to the hospital from time to time, And

because the elderly people tend to prefer quiet and less crowded places, away from stress,

therefore they might have many problems with the existing car parking system, which require

more time and effort to find available car park place. Disabled people may be the most benefitted

individuals from the new suggested system since they will have at each slot their own places

which will not allowed to be used by normal people, therefore their opportunity to find a free

place will increase and based on that the time consumed for searching available place will be

reduced.

People with family: people who are responsible for a family, almost all the time they are working

to provide the basic life insurance to their families. They will certainly suffer from wasting time

and effort in car parking even in shopping centres, hospitals or children’s schools. Thus it will be

quite useful for them if they save this amount of the time to spend it with their families or to

have additional working hours.

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1 . Student

Background

Name: Xiaoran Huang

Age: 24

Occupation: Student

Main Points

Ambitious and sets clear cut goals in his life

Gives utmost priority to time

Enjoys to the fullest in his leisure with friends and watching movies in

theatre.

Hate ambiguity and uncertainty in life.

Passionate about his education

Goals

Reserve in advance a place

before arriving to the car park

Easily find the reserved place

which will not be occupied

improperly

Less time to spend parking the

car

Description

Xiaoran is now a Master’s student of The Bartlett School of Architecture and lives in southeast of London.

Most of time he drives to school but he also takes the bus on bad weather days. Xiaoran lives in Summerfield

Rd which is over 13 miles away from UCL. Obviously, driving is much convenient for him, as it only takes

thirty minutes for him to drive from home to school but if he takes the tube, he has to walk for almost half an

hour on from home to the subway station and then the bus station to school. However, he cannot stop

worrying about finding an empty slot when he travels on his own to school .

Also, Xiaoran just got his driving license one year ago, in the meantime; the multilevel car park is

always crowded, especially in peak periods. Thus driving in a crowded car park and finding a free space are

become the biggest obstacle for him to drive to school.

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Pain Points

Time wasted

Improper parking

Find the car

Most importantly, he prefers to have a fixed lot or a reservation system for him to parking directly on each

weekday morning. Since he has nearly the same parking time requirements and what he want is the same car

park without spend much time on looking for his car every day.

Scenarios

Hard to find a empty place

Xiaoran has lectures at 9am this morning and he left home at 8 o’clock. It took him 35 minutes from home to

the car park, but then he took almost 15 minutes to find an empty space in the multilevel car park.

Improper parking make the parking more difficult

However when he was going to park his car, he found that the empty place is not big enough for his car since

a car occupies part of this empty slot and then he has to find another one. After taking another 10 minutes, he

finally found an empty slot. He was late for the lecture even an hour is supposed to enough.

Cannot find the car

At 6pm, Xiaoran left school and goes to the car park. Without any information provided, it takes almost 10

minutes for him to find his car in the car park as it is one of the busiest car park in the city . Due to peak

hours, and the crowd he often has no idea about the location of his car on that day.

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2- Elderly Lady

Background

Name: Katherine Jones

Age: 72

Occupation: Retired

Main Points

Comes from a middle class family. Had seen many ups and

down in life. Worked all her life to have a peaceful life after

retirement

Does not like travelling much. Prefers to stay at home in her

two bed room flat with her pet.

Suffers from Diabetes for the past 25 years and has

complications in her kidneys and foot problems due to high

blood sugar levels. Due to her medical condition, she needs

to go to hospital every two weeks for a check up.

Drives on her own and likes her independence.

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Goals

Wants to go to hospital quickly with less

frustration over finding a parking space

in a multi-storey hospital building.

Wishes to have a dedicated parking place

for elderly people.

Easy accessible parking space.

Smooth parking with wider access.

Description

Katherine is 72 year retired old lady with two children who lives in Birmingham. She lives in Harborne

in her two bed apartment alone after her husband’s death. She has lots of friends in the area. She was

diagnosed with diabetes at a very young age and she has been suffering from it from a very long time

now.

She is a foodie and does not have proper control over her diet, as a result she developed complications

over her health.

Her condition is getting more complicated which affects her kidneys and feet. She had a diabetic foot

for 2 years now. For that reason she has to visit to the Queen Elizabeth Women‘s hospital every two

weeks for regular check-up and treatment.

Every time Katherine wants to park her car in the hospital, she finds it is really difficult to find a free

wide-access parking space. She takes a longer time to get out off her car so she prefers to get a place,

which is close to the lift, and have enough space for her to get of her car.

Scenarios

Want to park close to the lift/Entrance:

It’s Tuesday morning, and she has an appointment with her doctor at the QE hospital. She has to have

an empty stomach for the check-up. She can only drink water. She wants to park her car in the hospital's

car park, which is a multi-storey car park.

It’s getting late for her appointment and she cannot find a free space where she can park her car. The

display gives information about the number of free spaces but she finds difficulty in finding one.

She gets frustrated and also feels hungry, as she hasn’t had her breakfast. Her sugar levels are also

getting low. She just wants to park her car somewhere near to the entrance and rush to hospital.

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Pain Points

Feels frustrated at not finding a free slot

to park.

No information guidance or help to

direct to free space for elderly people.

Confusing car parks.

Had to waste time and energy in the

process.

Finds a free space but too narrow to park:

Katherine found a free space near the lift where she can park her car but she realises that its

too small for her to park and get off the car. She knows that it’s definitely not a place where she can

park her car comfortably and get off the car smoothly. But as she not got lot of time to search again she

has to use this place to park. And with lot of difficulty and hassle she somehow parks her car in a very

narrow space and takes a long time to do it. It was definitely one of her bad experiences in a car park.

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3- Disabled Person

Background

Name: George Hanley

Age: 29

Occupation: Newspaper

Columnist

Main Points

Highly educated and sensible columnist.

Uses a disabled car.

People's insensitive behaviours about disability makes him

feel uncomfortable.

As physically challenged he sometimes finds it very hard to do

his routine activities

Goals

Need clear information/pictures or sign

displayed for searching car parks for

disabled people.

Despite his physical disability, he wants to

continue his life the same as before.

Need separate entry/exit for disabled.

Description

George is a 29 years old man from United Kingdom. He works as a columnist for a newspaper.

When he was 21 years old, he had a car accident and the accident caused him to become physically

disabled and he had to use wheelchair every day. After the car accident, he tried to live his life as

same as before and he started to write about the problems of disabled people in his newspaper

column.

This car accident has affected him very much, but George doesn't give up driving car and he bought a

disabled car to make his life easier. Although his new car is handy, it causes other problems for him.

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Pain Points

Misleading sign/symbols for disabled in car

park

Misuse of parking spaces for people with

disabilities.

No information to track the aisle number

He noticed that he spent lots of time to find an empty car park for handicapped car and non - disabled

motorist park in a disabled car park.

George tends to use the car park instead of street parking, as the weather conditions in this country

are unpredictable and car parks could prevent most of the inconvenient situations for disabled people.

George also needs more time getting in or getting off his car and he also needs a wide space, so he

prefers to find a quiet place near the lift.

Scenarios

Looking for disabled parking:

George went to a shopping centre to buy a gift for his friend for his birthday. The shopping centre is

one of the busiest city centre. He wanted to find an empty parking space for disabled. But he didn't

know where the parking was for it. After finding one seeing the sign, he then wanted a free disabled

spot . As it is a busy shopping centre on Sundays, all the disabled parking spaces on level one were

full. He now had to go and check for disabled parking on the other level. There was no way to find

this information anywhere; had has to check every level until he found one.

Paying ticket:

On his return, he exited the mall from one of the many exits, paid his ticket but soon realised that he

had parked his car to other side of the mall. Since he has only visited this shopping mall a couple of

times, he was not very sure about the many exits. Moreover he had no information or aisle number

where he actually parked. He had to travelled on his wheel chair for 10 minutes to get to his car.

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4- Men with a family

Background

Name: Akbar Madani

Age: 45

Occupation: Business

Main Points

Has a very active social life and goes to social events.

Is responsible for his family and spends his time with family every

weekend

Because of having a big family, he needs to have control over his

expenses.

Because of his occupation, time is important for him.

Goals

Seeks getting more time and

reducing expenses

Wants to shop every weekend in a

convenient way

Is interested in parking the car in

multi-storey parking instead of

street

Looks for a convenient free park

place in multi-storey parking

Saves fuel and does not want to

waste it just for looking for free car

park place

Description

Akbar came to the United Kingdom in 2000 and he started his business from 2002. He is a hard

working person and every minute is important to him. As he is a father of a big family, he needs to

work all weekdays to provide a comfortable life to his family. He spends weekends shopping with his

family. He enjoys to spend his weekends with his family but he has to manage his time and expenses.

Because of his children and the condition of the weather in the UK, he always prefer to go shopping

in big supermarkets which has car park instead of street parking on high street.

As he says a relaxing shopping experience begins with convenient car parking and explains how it is

frustrating looking for a vacant spot in a huge car park. Furthermore, he believes that this causes

waste of time and fuel. The horrible part of this every week journey from Akbar's point of view is that

the children nag him to stay in the car because of lack of park place .

27

Pain Points

Waste the time for looking for

vacant spot.

Being under pressure and stress.

Waste the fuel for finding a

convenient park place.

Causing congestion traffic in result

of wandering drivers.

Scenarios

Finding a cheaper car park:

One weekend, Akbar goes shopping with his family but he had to manage his time as he has got a

meeting to attend this afternoon. It was raining, therefore he preferred to park his car in the car park .

Because of it being

a weekend , the shopping centre was crowded and obviously there were very few free parking place

on the different levels of the parking.

In addition to the little time he had, he wanted to find a wide-access parking place because of his

children and also for their security, he preferred to park his car close to entrance of the shopping

centre. Furthermore, reasonable price for parking is very important option for him. Because of the

lack of time and constant children nagging of being in the car for long time, he had to park the car at

the first car park and walked towards the entrance of shopping centre which was great cumbersome

job with children and also finds very expensive ticket for him.

28

First generation prototypes

Mock up prototype 1:

Rationale:

In our first prototype we aimed to develop a parking system that will help the drivers find a parking

space easily and quickly provided with a set of options. Based on the analysis performed in the user

requirements we found that each class of user requires different preferences to park their car. Based

on these we developed our first prototype, which will be a touch screen system where drivers can

choose his options with different requirements. By providing the options, drivers could easily find

the place that meets their requirements.

Presentation:

Figure 1-1 options screen

The first screen presents several options. Options provide some facilities for each driver, therefore

the driver initially chooses option among 7 available options on base of their requirements. This

screen allows drivers to choose more than one option (for example, a driver needs a cheaper place

and near the exit so he can chooses both options). The cancel button also lets the driver change or

delete some options.

29

Figure 1-2 levels screen

Next, the second screen contains of all available parking spaces in each floor of parking appears. So

the driver manually selects the prefer number of parking place. There is again a cancelation button

for changing the choice.

Figure 1-3 Map of direction

30

The next screen includes the direction of the chosen parking place which be shown on the map. It

also offers the shortest route to the place.

Figure 1-4 Reserve confirmation

The last screen confirms the number of reservation park place, so the place is reserved for the

driver.

Analysis

In the first mock-up which is the most simplistic one, it offers the driver a menu on the first screen,

which allows them to choose what kind of facilities they want. When the driver has chosen the type

of parking place, they get redirected to next screen, which contains available car parks in each floor

of parking. Based on the provided information, the last screen generates the final result of

reservation. In the first mock-up prototype, there are several windows, which include several

options that needs to spend more time for reading and selecting. Also, the last output of print

includes confirmed number of reservation and map of direction to the reserved place.

Pros

Technically, it is easy to implement and provides clear information for the user. The options include

related signs, which offers more clear information for some users with difficulty in reading. It

provides a direction map on the ticket, which also redirects the driver to the reserved place and

provides a convenience situation for them.

31

Cons

The interface includes several screens and options and the user required to spend time for reading

all information and decide to select an option specially for those who have problem in reading or

elder persons. Additionally, the map direction for elder persons may be complicate and make them

confused for finding the reserved place.

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Nielsen Heuristic's for the first prototype

Criteria Rating Comment

Visibility of system status ! Visibility is indicated by the screens,

which are clear, but some people, specially

elderly people, have problems in reading

and understanding all of the information

Match between system and the real

world

+ The screens are easy to understand

and the information, which has to be

provided, matches this information

that has to be mentioned

User control and freedom ! The user has the ability to take control of

the process in each screen, but has

limited abilities after moving to next

screen

Consistency and standards ! The screens do not include uncommon

signs or elements. Experienced drivers

should be familiar with all signs.

Error prevention - There is no error prevention, as

after selecting there is no way back.

Recognition rather than recall +

The usage is efficient, as the user must

not to remember all information. They

are all provided on one screen.

Flexibility and efficiency to use - The system gives limited assistance. Most

of the work has to be done by the user.

Aesthetic and minimalistic design - The design is not minimalist. It includes

extra screens.

Help error recovery - If the user makes an error, he cannot

return to the previous page.

Help and documentation - There is not any help function.

+ : exist ! : must be improved - : not exist

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Conclusion:

Despite there being many characteristic and facilities that this parking management system has that

are very beneficial for a great amount of customer to save time effort and cost to some extends but,

it has several deficiency points, such as the direction or guide instruction are not quite obvious and

the most important riddle is, screens does not have a "Back" button that can return back for

checking again or mistake. Thus, the next step will focus on designing an interface to design

appropriate window that will interact with the customer.

34


Tool used: Photoshop

Primary target group: Disabled and elderly customers

Rationale:

In this prototype, we aimed to provide a voice guiding service. From user analysis we found a class

of drivers unable to touch the screen, or they just prefer speaking instead of touching, especially the

elderly drivers. By using the voice guiding service they could interact with the parking system more

easily. For each step, they would get voice guidance and could speak out their choices. A guidance

device will also be provided to direct the driver go to the reserved place.

Presentation

The second mock up prototype includes a sensor, screen and speaker. When a car arrives at the

entrance, the sensor will realise the car and the system welcomes new customer with voice message.

Figure 2-1 Entrance of the park

The system indicates parking options for the customer. These options are enumerated:

1 - Any place

2- Cheaper place

3- Near the entrance

4- Near the lift

5- Disabled

Customer should say the number of the option, which is preferred.

35

Figure 2-2 Enumerated options

After selecting the option, the screen shows the available parking spaces for each level. For this

step, customer should say the number of the level.

If you want to select

"any place", say 1.


"cheaper place", say 2.


"near the entrance", say 3.


"near the lift", say 4.


"disabled car park", say 5.

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Figure 2-3 Level options

Figure 2-4 Level map

The next screen will display the map and the number of the available places on each level, the

levels also are numbered to facilitate the selection procedure, by stating the number of the level the


"level 1", say 1


"level 2", say 2


"level 3", say 3

37

customer can reserve the place. A green light shows for available places and the red light is for non-

empty places.

Figure 2-5 Path guide

After choosing the preferable place the second step is start: in this step, the customer has to hold

audio guidance device, which contains power, volume, and play buttons. The device will give voice

instruction to clarify the direction to the intended available place.

Go to level 1,

Turn right,

Go straight ahead,

Turn right,

Your reserved place is on

the right hand side

38

Analysis

The second prototype can simplify the way that the system interacts with the customer, since no

physical interaction is required with interfaces to choose or reserve the place, it will just depend on

voice communication, which might be more beneficial than touching the screens. More often the car

might not get close to the system for the driver to reach the touch screen system.

This interface will have 3 options in order to ensure that the users are aware about the type of place.

The audio guidance device will be taken at the entrance of the garage, which will give clear

instruction to where the car should go, it is similar to those devices, which are used in the museums,

and galleries in the UK, this direction controller device can be returned back at the exit gate.

Pros

The facility of the existing screen option and level information in addition to the voice

guidance, so that the user can read the instructions in case they lose the voice instructions.

It is useful for disabled and elderly people cause it's hard for them to use touch screen

Cons

There may be difficulties in identifying different accents

If there exist a problem with the sensor, then the system can't restart for the next customer.

The system is not convenient for deaf people

Difficulty in cancelling a choice at each step

Time consuming

In such crowded environment, it might not be possible to hear the audio massages clea

39

Nielsen Heuristic's for second prototype


Visibility of system status + Audio guidance and screen will inform

customers step by step


world

! The options are enumerated for the user to

understand easily and the accent is clear.

But it will cause a delay because the users

have to wait till the guide information is

finished.

User control and freedom - The user must start the reservation from

the beginning, back or cancel option does

not exist

Consistency and standards + The volume buttons on the path guide are

standard and interface of the screen is easy

to understand for customers

Error prevention ! The system wants the user to confirm the

selection before the reservation. But the

system should be improved in case of an

error of the sensor.


The usage is quite efficient as the system

will display all type of instructions on the

screen and it will read them as well, which

will increase the connection between the

system and users since they will use both

senses hearing and vision to understand

the system clearly.

Flexibility and efficiency to use + The reservation system is suitable for

every type of user. But this system is

especially efficient for disabled and

elderly customers.

40

Aesthetic and minimalistic design + Path guide just includes power and

volume button so it has a simple design,

which is suitable for all kind of users.

Screen interface is aesthetic and simple as

well.

Help error recovery - It's hard to express error messages with

this parking management system.

Help and documentation - Help function does not exist. User can get

help from staff.

Conclusion:

This prototype will offer an efficient approach to interaction, especially for disabled and elderly

people, as the system provides an option of voice guidance to the users.

However interface has its own limitation, as it requires noiseless environment in order the voice

messages be received well by users. There are only few section of users who might actually be

interested in using this facility as it is a bit time consuming.

Furthermore extra overhead of maintaining the voice guidance device or gadget is required. Having

said that it might be extremely helpful for some sections of users.


41


Tool used: Balsamiq Mockups

Primary target group: Young and computer literates

Rationale:

Moving forward to our third prototype, we aimed to implement a reservation application, which

could reserve a parking space in advance and also record the driver parking histories, if the user is

registered .In our user requirement analysis we found considerable section of users interested in

having a system which reserves a slot in advance. Users could reserve a place according to the

available map or could also reserve referring to his parking history. After booking a place, they

would get a confirmation email which includes the parking barcode which needs to be scanned and

go to the reserved place directly. Time could be saved considerably.

Presentation

Figure 3-1

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The third mock-up prototype is based on providing the user the facility for reserving the parking

space beforehand. The facility can be provided using a web browser or an app. The user can select

the location where he/she wants to park from the homepage of Parking Reservations, which

welcomes the user and presents its features at the centre of the page.

The homepage facilitates the selection of the dates and the timings required by the system to reserve

the parking space.

Figure 3-2

The user also has the option of selecting parking from the history if he is a regular user of the system.

The system provides with the option to login if he/she is an existing user. Once the user credentials

has been provided, all the history of that user is shown in the drop down menu. The user can then

select his choice of location.

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Figure 3-3

Based of the location provided the system searches for all of the available parking places. The user

then selects the exact parking location based on his preferences for example cheaper parking, family

parking, and quick access to the shopping centres etc.,

Figure 3-4

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Based on the user's input of timing and location details, the system generates the list of all available

parking spaces as shown to the user in graphical display. The green colour specifies the available

space for reservation, red is occupied and the grey specifying being reserved.

The user is provided with the option of clicking on the green button and submits his request.

Figure 3-5

When the user submits his request, all the details of the reservation is shown to the user and he/she

get a confirmation details .The next page show the billing details. The user has to pay the parking

cost via his credit/debit card to confirm his reservation. Once the user pays his amount and

confirms, the green button changes to grey, specifying his reservation mentioning his slot.

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Analysis

The second Prototype introduces a new concept of reserving the a parking space in advance. Before

setting off on a journey, the user can reserve a parking space through a website or an app on the

smart phone. The user can book a slot mentioning his duration of stay.

If the user is a frequent visitor of the same location and often uses the same car park, he is provided

with the functionality to register an account at the particular website. This allows the user to save

the locations he uses very often as favourites. He can access the list of his favourite locations easily,

which allows simple reuse of the searches he makes.

The second prototype also extends the basic features of the first one where user is allowed to choose

his preferences.

Pros

Allows the user to book the reservation in advance, thereby saving lot of time and hassle

looking for a free space in the car park

Gives organised car parking management to the user as well as the management team.

User can book or cancel the booking.

Also features a search history, through which user can choose location from history

Provides with an option to choose according to the preferences.

Cons

From a technical point of view, little hard to implement.

The user might not be sure of the timings input , he/she might want to park.

As the search history is integrated, the browser may have problems displaying histories.

Since involves huge implementation, search engine might get slow and performance of the

system might get affected, problems displaying the website appropriately.

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Nielsen Heuristic's for third prototype


Visibility of system status + The website will show a step-wise loading

bar when the user update the details step

by step


world

! The website is made simple and clear with

only the basic functionality. Hence the

user should have no problem using the

website for reservations but can be

improved with more functions

User control and freedom + User has provided with basic functions,

can go back and cancel anytime.

Consistency and standards - The website does not provide extra user

functionalities and options to save or

revert the changes.

Error prevention ! As the user fills one form at a time and in

a step by step process. It is very easy for

the user to detect errors if something goes

wrong.


As the system facilitates with the search

histories and search engines, The user only

has to provide a little bit of information.

Flexibility and efficiency to use + The reservation system is suitable for

every type of user. With only a few clicks,

the user can see all of the available free

space and book his space which saves lot

of time

Aesthetic and minimalistic design + Reservation system just includes basic

functionalities so it has a simple design,

which is suitable for all kind of users.

Screen interface is aesthetic and simple as

well.

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Help error recovery - It is difficult to recover the working screen

if the system crashes. The user has to

make a new reservation. Data is lost in an

unusual system crashes

Help and documentation - No help functions available.

Conclusion:

Using reservation parking system makes life significantly easier, from the driver's perspective. It

reduces the overheads involved in finding a lot in a multi-storey building as long as the web

developer takes accessibility and usability in account. Additionally, the system allows users to

create an account and suggest the locations based on history.

Conclusion of low level prototypes:

We have created three prototypes using Photoshop and Balsamic Mockups.

Initially, we considered to create the mockup using balsamic but since we were not getting required

functionalities from balsamic. We decided to go for Photoshop. Adobe as it offered us a greater

variety of functionalities and options and more freedom with the design and layout.

Secondly, we gathered all the features and functionalities to be implemented for our prototypes. We

had a brainstorming session, with each team member coming up with different ideas. We wanted to

address the most significant parking problems based on our scenarios and wanted to use different

approaches in different prototypes.

We decided to have three low-fi prototypes each with different approach to address the problem

with all the prototype having a common functionality to offer. The common functionality aimed to

provide the user with the free space information with ease of access. These are done using different

approaches.


48

We have tried to make us of the advantages and the strengths and worked on the weaknesses. We

analyzed the personas and scenarios and tried to model the user requirements elicited initially.

We categorized our three different approaches, as shown below:

Provide basic functionality with simple touch screen projectors.

Integrate with voice guidance system mainly focusing on elder or disabled or people unable to

read/write.

Provide a system where a user can reserve his parking space in advance through web browsers.

Based on these three distinct approaches, we built our low-fi prototypes. We focused our prototypes

and paid attention to the below point when evaluated:

Simplicity of usage

Step by step progress

Usable by all kinds of users like young people, disabled, elderly, people unable to read/write

etc.,

Advanced features including voice guidance and providing device for guiding the path

Use of modern technology for user interface

We have concluded that each prototype offers a distinct feature and advantages, and it is worth

implementing the second generation prototype based on distinct features of all the three mockup

prototype. The implementation as second prototype will provide the possibility to further evaluate

usability and to improve the user experience by performing extensive testing with real users.

49

Second Generation Prototyping

Evaluation of tools

Design

Balsamiq Mockups To design the first generation prototype

Microsoft PowerPoint To design the second generation prototypes

Adobe Photoshop Used for the voice guidance low fidelity

prototype and for the map images

Process

For the low fidelity prototypes, we used Balsamiq Mockups to design the interface of the

reservation system. In order to improve the design for the second generation prototype, we preferred

Microsoft PowerPoint and Adobe Photoshop.

Balsamiq Mockups

Evaluation

In building the first generation prototype, we first used Balsamiq Mockups for the design of the

touch screen interface. Balsamiq Mockups is suitable to design an interface for a short period of

time and saves time with drag & drop property. It is easy to create interface with using design

pattern libraries and ready to use UI's. The software provide user to download different add-ons too.

However, it is not colourful and attractive as we thought.

Possible Alternatives

There are a number of applications, which are similar to the Balsamiq Mockups. We considered

some of them below.

1. MockingBird

Design patterns are similar with Balsamiq Mockups but the advantage of this application is that user

can access mock-ups from anywhere since it is a web-based application. MockingBird also allow

user to share the mock-up with the teammates and they can also edit it too.

50

2. Lumzy

Lumzy is a similar mock-up tool with Balsamiq Mockups. It's ready to use UI's looks nice than the

Balsamiq. A good property of this application is that the user can define a pop up message easily.

This property could be useful for designing our project.

3. Serena Prototype Composer

This tool provide user to create a realistic interface than the other mock-up applications. It seems

like this application is convenient to design a web page rather than touch screen interface. The free

version allows user to work on one project.

Microsoft PowerPoint

Evaluation

We noticed that Balsamiq Mockups is not attractive and colourful so we decide to use PowerPoint.

This is not a mock-up application but it is much more easy to create a realistic interface and

components (buttons, texts...) with effects. We added glows and shadows to the buttons. We also

used ready templates of Microsoft PowerPoint for the second generation prototype.


1. Google Docs Presentation

It is a simple web-based application that can be used by anyone with a Google account. The

diversity of the template is much more than the PowerPoint. It might be useful for designing the

background of the interface.

2. Prezi

A user-friendly tool to create presentations. Also, we could use the ready templates of the Prezi. But

we could not use this application for effects such as glows and shadows.

3. Keynote

A similar application for Mac users. It is obvious that Keynote is more comprehensive than

PowerPoint but these differences were not favourable for our purposes.

Adobe Photoshop

Evaluation

Adobe Photoshop is used for the creation of the map and the image, which describes the second low

fidelity prototype. This tool also helped us to change image background to the transparent. It is a

very useful programme for designing and it had many advanced properties, which were useful for

us.

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1. GIMP

It is a free alternative to the Adobe Photoshop. The interface of the GIMP looks simple but it is also

complex like Photoshop. However, GIMP included all of the properties that we needed for our

project.

2. Serif PhotoPlus X6

This is another software that has similar properties to Adobe Photoshop. The advantage of this tool

is that it cost less to buy than Adobe Photoshop.

3. Pixlr

Pixlr is an online photo editor and it looks much more simple and user friendly than Adobe

Photoshop. This application could be useful for us since we are not experienced with the features of

Photoshop.

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Presentation of second generation prototype:

This is the welcome screen of the parking system. The driver is presented by a simple view: At the

top of the screen, the welcome message, followed by the name of parking is shown. In the centre of

the screen a simple message encourages the user to select one of the options, which are shown in

highlights buttons.

The driver, who has reserved his/her ticket in advance on the Internet, is able to choose the

“Already reserved” option. Otherwise they can reserve the preferred parking place by choosing the

option “Want to reserved”. Each of the option buttons will redirect user to the next screen. The

main purpose of this design is keeping simplicity and avoiding of useless information for the user.

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Options screen follow to selecting “ Want to reserve “ button

If the drive presses the “ Want to reserve” button, the options screen is presented to him/her by a list

of several options. At the top of this screen a message that guides the user to find their preferred

option, is shown. At top of the options, the message shown presents the voice facility in this system.

Therefore this provides a more convenient situation for elderly people or people with skin

problems.

Options buttons are shown in highlights by the related sign for each of them and the number, which

mentions the specific option in voice facility. At the bottom of the screen there are two buttons:

“back” and “next”, which guide the user to the previous screen, if they change mind, or to the next

screen for completing their reservation. When the user presses the button or says the number of

options, by telling or pressing the next button next screen will be presented for them.

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Available parking place screen

This screen appears when the user chooses the next button in previous screen (option screen). At the

top of the page, the information about the screen and the message that reminds the user about voice

method. At the centre of the screen, the available parking spaces on each level are shown in green,

highlighting the number. The taken parking spaces are shown in red and it states zero.

The related number of each level is useful for the voice user. The next and back buttons have the

same function of the last screen. If the user presses or says selection level number, the option will

pop out and highlight then by pressing or saying the next button, they will redirect to the next

screen.

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Map of selection level

This screen shows the available parking places on the map by a green light colour and occupied

parking spaces by red light colour.

The map presents all of the details about the selection level of the parking, which includes entrance

and exit ways, the numbers of the parking places and the information about availability of the

parking places by red and green lights. In this screen, there is also a voice facility for users, showing

the message at the top of the page, and voice facility notes to the user.

If the driver presses or says the preferred free parking place, the next screen will show.

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Confirmation screen

If the user presses or says the preferred free parking place, this screen will pop up in the middle of

the previous screen. At the top of it, in bold and in large size font, the selection level and number of

parking places is shown. The user is able to confirm it by pressing or saying “Yes” or if they change

their mind, they are able to reject it by saying “No.”

When the user decides to reject it, this screen will disappear and the background screen will show

again. Otherwise, the next screen appears for the user.

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Final reservation screen

If the user confirms the reserved parking place, the final reservation screen appears. At the top of

this, the large font size message reminds the user for collecting reserved ticket, which includes the

related map.

At the bottom of the screen, “ Next Customer” button will redirect next user to the home page of

system.

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Scan screen follow to selecting “Already reserved” button

On the home page, if the user selects the “ Already reserved” button, this screen will appear. On this

screen, it is presumed that the driver has reserved the preferred parking place in advance on the

Internet and that they have the barcode of reservation in hand.

On this screen, in addition to the simple message that guides the driver for scanning the barcode, the

image of the scan machine and the specified place of scan is shown. If the user scans the barcode,

and it be accepted by the machine, the next screen will appear.

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Confirmation screen

On this screen, it is presumed that the barcode was correct. The message at top of the page shows

confirmation of barcode and also reminds to the user that collect their reserved ticket which

includes related map of reserved parking place.

The “Next Customer” button will redirect next user to the home page for starting reservation.

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Ticket

After all reservation process, this ticket will print which has a front and back page. On the front

page, at the top of the ticket, the name of the parking and under it date of reservation, time of

reservation, reserved level number and reserved parking place number are shown.

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By stating this message “ Pay On Exit,” it reminds the user that they need to pay in existing gate.

The barcode at the bottom of the ticket is unique for each user which be used for payment of the

parking fee.

At the back of the ticket, the coloured map of reserved place is printed which provides direction to

the reserved place by arrows and specifies the reserved parking place.

Plan for evaluation of the prototype

In order to evaluate our second generation prototypes we used :

Inspection methods with scenarios and heuristic evaluations (Nielsen Heuristics).We have

considered testing again with personas, but we decided to test with real persons instead, because

they can provide us better and unbiased feedback. To make our scenarios as useful as possible, we

thought about potential problems when creating them.

As it is impractical to implement the system we considered to evaluate the mock up system with

real users. In order to get a rough figure on numbers and statistics about user evaluation we

considered doing user testing by providing a group of users with a questionnaire.

We also plan to do evaluations based on our scenarios and heuristics (Nielsen Heuristics).

Will also evaluate based of set of criteria mention below:

- Efficiency of the system in providing a free lot for the user

- Is the system easy to interact with?

- Does the system meet the user requirements?

-Does the system does what is meant to

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Scenarios

Xiaoran Huang

Katherine Jones

George Hanley

Akbar Madani

Scenario

1

Reserve a place before go to

school

Find a place near the lift and

go to see her doctor

Find the disabled parking

place quickly

Drop off his children and wife

near the lift

Score 10 8 10 5

Reason

Convenient to reserve a place

and easy to drive to the reserved

slot following the ticket

Using the Voice guidance

service and comfortable to

reserve a place near the lift,

however it does not have wide

access

Got a disabled place quickly

Only want to drop off his family

and drive to a quiet place near the

exit while the system only

allowed him to parking near the

lift where really crowded.

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Scenario

2

Have a fixed place for each

weekday

Drive to reserved place

quickly

Have multiple choice when

reserve a place

Reserve a place with wide access

to ensure the safety of his family

when they get out of the car

Score 5 5 8

10

Reason

Even though the space could be

reserved before, but it not

allowed to parking for a lone

term with fixed place that make

him getting his car a little

difficult

The ticket shows the guidance

in the back, but the font is

small and difficult for elder

people to see

Except to find a disabled

place, he also want a space

has low price, which is not

applicable in this system

Easily get the wide access space

and no need to worry his children

get off the car.

Scenario

3 Find a very low priced place

Easily reserve the place by

using the parking system

Have reserved the place

before, and want to drive to

the place quickly

Pick his family near the lift

Score 10 8 6 9

64

Reason

Have the option that choose the

cheapest places and really get

the cheap slot easily

The interface is simple but will

get confused when choose a

place on the available map

Got the barcode in his hand

but he has to repark his car

near the scanner which is

inconvenient

Park his car in cheapest place and

then following the map of the

ticket to the lift to pick up his

family

65

Nielsen Heuristic's


Visibility of system status + Audio guidance and touch screen will

inform customer step by step and give

detailed instructions


world

+ The system gives information and details

and steers the user in each step

User control and freedom ! Back and next buttons exist for erroneous

selections. But a cancel button should be

added for scan barcode page.

Consistency and standards + The interface is user friendly and

instructions are clear to understand for all

kind of customers.

Error prevention + The system wants user to confirm

selection before the reservation. So this

prevents user to make mistakes


The usage is quite efficient as the system

will display all types of instructions on the

screen and it will read them as well, which

will increase the connection between the

system and users since they will use both

senses hearing and vision to understand

the system clearly.

Flexibility and efficiency to use + The system is convenient for all type of

user. Voice guidance facility will help

disabled and elderly customers. Touch

screen facility prevent the loss of time.

Aesthetic and minimalistic design + The interface of the reservation system is

simple and clear for users

66

Help error recovery - The user may click the next button

without selecting an option for

reservation. Error messages should be

included for this case.

Help and documentation - Help function does not exist. User can get

help from staff.

User testing and heuristics

In order to ensure the functioning of the prototype was as similar to the intended final version as

possible, all the evaluations were conducted on a touch screen computer. In addition, the keypad

and barcode scanner were represented by images on a piece of paper that was placed underneath

the screen. The purpose of the evaluation was explained to the evaluators, along with a description

of the task they were requested to complete. However, to ensure that their feedback was as

representative of how the system would perform in real life as possible, no explanation or

description of the system and its input mechanisms were made. An observer sat with each

evaluators, who discussed what the user was thinking as they progressed. Whenever errors were

observed, a note was taken of the context and how the user resolved their difficulty. Following the

ending of the task, the evaluator completed a paper-based questionnaire (see appendix) that gauged

important aspects of their experience. As they were volunteers, the survey was designed to be as

concise as possible, whilst still capturing essential feelings. A range of qualitative and quantitative

questions was posed. Where a measure of intensity of feeling was required, a five point Likert scale

was used that ranged from 1 for bad, to 5 for excellent.

What follows is a summary of the key observations of each user, along with any errors they made.


67

User 1

Name: Asif

User type: Workingman

Task: To scan the Barcode of already reserved parking slot, collect the ticket and park in the

corresponding spaced reserved.

Observations:

Found that reserving a parking slot in advance, through the website - very advanced, helpful,

time and effort saving task.

Easy to pick a slot of your choice and preference, sitting at your home or office or anywhere

else provided you have Internet facility.

However found that the need to take a barcode print out in order to scan at the entrance of car

park to be little process overhead.

He thought that if the user forgets or misplaces his barcode printout, then there is now way he

can get into his already reserved place. He has to buy a new ticket, which can be very annoying.

He felt that scanning the barcode to be OK task for him, but raised a question regarding

elderly or disable people who might not actually feel comfortable performing this task.

Once Barcode is scanned, he felt that it is quite an easy way to get to your reserved parking slot

based on the direction on the map.

Overall he suggested that reserving parking slot in advance is a unique and advanced idea but

in real practical life only young and educated people can mostly use this facility.

User 2

Name: Haveen

User type: Student

Task: Reserving the free slot online before going to the multi store car park using the online

reservation website

Observation:

Found that each screen of the website (interface) is well designed.

The steps of booking the place were very clear and well defined thus it can be easy to use by

any one.

She felt happy for the existence of (from my parking history option) since it will save time and

efforts for reserving a free place.

68

Although the information in the 4th

screen were very helpful since it shows the available place

but she noticed that the two choices ‘not available’ and ‘reserved’ do not convey a clear

meaning as they indicate almost the same concept.

Felt that there were not enough steps when booking a space, therefore it helps to save time

associated to reserving place.

Overall her evaluation of the online reservation was good and she stated that the website was

quite clear, but she suggested that if screen 3 had the same font and colour that was used on the

other screens it might be better because the font is not bold and the colour is too light screen.

User 3

Name: Daniel Morphew

User Type: Student

Observations

The reservation feature of this system could help him to manage his parking time

efficiency.

In general, he thinks that this system is user friendly and easy to use.

It has clear guidance, but he finds the voice guidance has no benefit for him.

No requirement option when he reserves parking place and therefore needs to be improved

in our system.

The map is a little confusing since when he get to the parking level, there was no direction

guidance and it will takes him several minutes to find the reserved place still.

For the reservation service, Daniel thinks it is very useful, especially parking during the

busy period. Only need to scan the barcode and drive to the place

Might need to wait for might a long time for other drivers to choose a space in the standard

way which would also be time consuming.

Compared to the time driving to find a free slot in the whole car park, he believes that the

time spent on choosing the place and reserving it is worth it.

Suggestions

Multiple ways to get the ticket by barcode

Clearer guidance of the map would be helpful.

69

User 4

Name: Ahmad

User type: Officer

Task: Find a free parking place near the entrance on time

Observation:

First of all, He spent more time on reading all options and information on second screen till

he found the suitable option for himself but he found the options very close to most

requirements of users.

He believes, suppose there was not available place by according to his choice, therefore it

would take more time for returning to previous pages and again finding another place .

He found the map on the ticket is not big enough for indicating direction , therefore it could

also be another challenge and take a time again.

He found the system time-consuming and it is with less functionality because when he

faced by some difficulties in some screens, there was not a proper solution and he needs to

start screens from first .

Totally, he prefers using parking system to driving around of parking for finding a free

place because using parking system is guaranteed and stress-free.

User 5

Name: Nihat

User Type: Manager of a company

Observation:

He thinks that the touch screen is useful and simple for each kind of user.

The reservation through the website is not necessary for every car park, but it might be

convenient for airport car parks.

He thinks that the voice guidance will be time consuming and he will not prefer this

property.

He said that generally he doesn’t want to park near a big car or a van for the safety of his

car. Because of that he has some concerns about reservation system since the user just sees

the map of park and full and empty spaces but they can't see the cars at the screen.

70

He thinks that the interface is clear but he said that it might be hard to select a car park from

map.

Result Analysis

The interface has not been practically applied in real life, because we were restricted by time.

However, we depend on the questionnaire to understand and analyse the user requirements for

evaluating the system. It can clearly be seen from the graph that the users on average were satisfied

from the interface but this satisfaction is not free from some recommendation or suggestion to

resolve some part of interface.

Starting with the user experience, it was 80% a useful experience for the users.

Secondly almost all of the users agreed that the interface provides their desirable options on

parking places. In other words, 95% of the users requirements are met within this interface.

The voice guidance has received great admiration from some users: about 70% of users

were very enthusiastic to apply the voice guidance, but some found it time consuming, as

they concluded that the voice guidance will cause delays because they have to listen to all

of the interaction in order to be able to choose their option.

The chart clearly demonstrates that communication between the machine and user was quit

sufficient. As a result, 90% of users stated that the interface is quiet easy to interact in terms

of screen instruction and audience.

Reservation system was the most conflicting and vague step in this system which was based

on the graph, since it contains some steps that should be clarified more and even scanning

barcode may be one of the factors that lead a people to reject the idea of in advance

reservation, therefore only about 40% agreed that the reservation system is helpful in this

type of the parking space.

Information presented on the map was considered to be quite helpful by a great amount of

users which reached to 85% and they found the map appropriate mean for finding their

intended place.

Being time consuming is one of the most important factor which effects the efficiency of

our interface, and about 40% stated that the is system is time consuming whilst the other

60% declared that interface steps can be completed within an appropriate amount of time.

72

Recommendations:

In order to allow the system to be deployed in the real world, a number of issues raised in the above

analysis need to be addressed.

Considerations needs to be taken when presenting a touch screen map where a user can press or say

his choice of available free space. In a real world it would be a great challenge to implement this

screen for the following reason:

Map needs to reflect the dynamic changes that takes place, as the parking spaces are

occupied and changed in a very fast manner. It would be a challenge to implement these

changes into would be a challenge to develop.

As most of our volunteers suggested that it would be a bit pain point for them to press the

map to select the free space.

Another consideration we may need to take is based on the reservation system. The timing factor

for reservation system needs to be paid with detail attention, as a user might do the reservation of a

slot for a fixed time but in practical might actually wanted to stay in there for more time than

reserved, where in the same slot might have its reservation done by another user immediately

following his timing by the other user. In this scenario the system doesn't provide any feasible

solution. Deadlock kind of situation occurs where one user wants to access his reserved slot but the

previous user is not ready to leave the slot and wanted to extend his timing for some reason.

Hence our evaluation suggests that implementing a reservation system might actually need more

attention to details and can have many tradeoffs. In practice, such systems might require more time

and costs to address all of these factors.

73

Summary/Achievements

The biggest achievement we have made as a group whilst conducting this project is the designing

of a system out of a highly innovative idea. Giving shape to this advanced concept involved a lot of

thinking and brainstorming sessions conducted within the group. We tried to address the most

trivial problem, which has been ignored or unaddressed for long time now.

We saw very little or rather no information is provided to the user, in particular a driver in the

parking systems. In today's world where every step of life is automated with the extensive use of

devices gadgets, mobile phones, laptops etc., it is astonishing to reveal that a driver still has to

search and wander around looking for a free space manually in a multi-storey car park. This led us

to attempt to design a system, which not only guides the user to an available parking space but also

provides him with a variety of options.

The main conclusion from our literature review of related work was that there is no existing system

that can guide a user to find a free space in a much better way than the traditional methods of

manual searching. We also felt the need to provide a user with variety of options to choose, as there

are different classes of users.

We think that by providing these options as presented in our prototypes gives more flexibility, user

control and freedom to drivers to choose their preferences. The option provided was based on

detailed study and user requirements drawn upon from our personas and scenarios. We took into

account three types of personas and considered all of the scenarios to finally come up with all the

possible options a driver can opt for.

We designed our first generation of prototypes based on totally different approaches to provide

flexibility to different sections of user. We feel that the most important breakthrough for us as a

team was the idea to provide a map in the parking ticket. We feel that this is the most innovative

concept to address the problem defined earlier. However due to restrictions of time, we could not

delve further into details of dealing with maps.

Although we have a delivered a system that, with minor rectifications, could be taken forward, we

made too many assumptions. Our research into whether such things as the feasibility of having

touch screen system with voice guidance at the entrance of car park, actually being connected to

the internet, the actual cost of scanning machines and reservation options, were limited. This means

that, in reality, the system may not be fit for purpose, meaning that many of the key features could

not actually be deployed.

74

However with the use of realistic potential users, along with our own observations, a thorough

evaluation of the final prototype was conducted. The results suggested ours was a system that,

although somewhat flawed in place, was nonetheless nearly fit for purpose. Now we believe we

have paved the first steps on the way of designing an application, which provides simple user-

friendly interface to users in achieving a smooth navigation to a free parking space. This was

highlighted by some positive user feedback received in our usability study.

In terms of how our team performed as a group, we all too often had meetings and discussed things

focusing on a very limited ideas and initiatives, as a result, most often the team stuck to their own

opinions. This led to redundancy and a lack of understanding. At one point this became so bad that

we were forced to redo great swathes of our project. We then realised that we needed to work as

individuals, with minimal interaction and sharing of individual ideas. This approach led us to more

individual thinking, each team member taking the ownership and new ideas started to pour in and

we were back on form with much more enthusiasm and spirit towards the end.

75

Appendix

A copy of the questionnaire presented to the user testing participants

1- How was your experience using the system

1. Excellent 2. Good 3. Average 4. Bad 5. Not applicable

2- Does the options provided on the screen met your requirements

1. Totally met 2. Met 3. Partially met 4. Not met

3- Dose the system help you to find the free lot easily with the provided info on the map?

1. Quite helpful 2. Less helpful 3. Helpful 4. Not helpful

4- Is the user interface easy to interact?


5- Did you find the voice guidance useful?


6- Do you find the reserve service is a convenient way to reserve a slot?


7- Did you find using the system time consuming?


Do you have any suggestion for improve or solve the weakness points of our system?

76

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