Crosswalk Experience Design

Synopsis

How can the experience of using a crosswalk be improved? For most people, using a crosswalk is something that requires little active thought. However during our research for a user centered design project, my teammates and I uncovered pedestrian behaviors that indicated some level of uncertainty when approaching a crosswalk. I worked on designing the research and analyzing the results of our studies. With the team I used the analysis to develop a set of design recommendations for ensuring a better crosswalk experience. These recommendations were then used to develop and test paper prototypes of crosswalk technologies.

Research

I originally chose to work on this project because I was unfamiliar with crosswalk design and I thought it would be a challenge to work on something outside of the software realm. In an effort to understand our users' needs we conducted two initial types of user research. Each member took notes and videotaped user interactions at two intersections during an ethnographic study. I aggregated the notes from the field study and video and identified several overall themes that emerged. I also raised several questions based on these themes that required further study.

These questions became the focus of a targeted online survey that I helped write. Solicitations for the survey were done through Facebook and we received nearly 100 responses. As a group we sat down to analyze the results of the survey and combine them with our previous findings.

Findings and Recommendations

Our analysis identified four themes that influenced the crosswalk experience.

• User Modes and Interaction Profiles
• Timing
• Feedback
• Safety and Accessibility

Timing and feedback influenced user behavior the most due to the lack of consistency with which they were deployed at various crosswalks. This was somewhat surprising as we had originally thought that the technology used would matter most. It turned out that as long as the technology was implemented in a consistent manner with feedback being central to the consistency, then the type of technology used was a secondary concern.

Paper Prototype

I collaborated with the other three members of the team to come up with prototype designs for both the crosswalk button and the crosswalk signal. The shot below shows the crosswalk button design that received the best feedback from a focus group.

It offers the user a “Push to Walk” button, providing a green border feedback light once it is pressed. The multi-color indicator at the top represents the passage of time and corresponds to the red/yellow/green color scheme identified with traffic signals.