Could autonomous driving revolutionise transportation within zoos too? The ZooRide platform offers a comprehensive system to help first-time visitors, those with limited mobility, and families with children to navigate around Taronga Zoo, for an organised and engaging visiting experience. The mobile app aims to supplement visitors by streamlining the planning process, bringing back control to its users by tracking available destinations for cart route booking.
Taronga Zoo's redeveloped app has enhanced visitor' personalised experiences by improving navigation convenience and access to information. Features include an interactive map and barcode scan motion sensors for learning at exhibits. Upon our literature review, we attributed Taronga Zoo's technological investments with declining tourism due to the pandemic.
Fuelled by this realisation, how can we delve into the vast problems zoo visitors are facing and how will they benefit from an autonomous zoo vehicle? To get an overarching understanding of user frustrations and pain points, we employed a multi-methodology research approach, including online ethnography, surveys, and competitor analysis.
We used the affinity diagramming to break down our ethnographic research findings and identity common themes.
Survey conducted on a sample of 26 individuals within our target group.
Interface Design
Experience Design
The findings aligned with our initial research assumptions about Taronga Zoo's challenges, including inefficiency and low visitor engagement due to insufficient planning, long walking distances, and outdated information. With our insights, we framed our opportunity space with the following "How Might We" question.
"How might we implement an autonomous vehicle pod system to enhance efficiency, engagement, and organisation in planning and navigating zoo visits, both beforehand and during the visit?"
Before delving into solution exploration, personas (meet Kate and Sakura!) and the jobs-to-be-done framework helped our team to narrow down key features for the zoo cart platform. Jobs-to-be-done specifically helped us uncover users' goals and what they aim to accomplish. Now, how can our user flows effectively address these opportunities? We established three user flows for each device that cater to the following features:
Guided by our research outcomes, we engaged in a brainstorming session to develop low-fi sketches and amass feedback. By testing ideas and a firm grasp of prioritised features, my attention shifted to optimizing the mobile app, which acts as users' first interaction with the zoo. How can I make the planning process smooth and adaptable to varying needs? For instance, while Kate might seek a pre-defined route tailored for families, Sakura, constrained by time as a traveller, may prefer the flexibility of creating her own route by selecting specific animals to visit.
First iteration (hand-drawn wireframes)
Second iteration (mid-fidelity prototype using Balsamic)
"When scrolling, I'm confused whether this animal show or talk has already been added to my custom route."
I modified the 'add' and 'added' button by employing different shape and colour as indication to enhance clarity for users when browsing through the destinations.
"I find it difficult in locating the route I personalised both prior to booking and after saving it."
In response to unclear naming, I added labels for inputting date and route name. This improvement seamlessly integrates with the cart booking website, simplifying the route selection process and enabling users to find previously planned routes more effortlessly.
To ensure a seamless flow in customising a cart route and adding animal shows and talks, I began making key changes when transferring my low-fi prototypes into digital wireframes. Through my peer feedback session, I made the following improvements:
User testing was carried out with my high-fidelity prototype. By adopting the think aloud technique for usability testing, I was able to observe and identify problems with the layout and navigation, leading to an overall great feedback.
Major improvements of removed menu and carousel of arrows following the rule of continuity
Adjusted layout to improve visual hierarchy with more familiar icons.
Add help and documentation with text under subheading to guide first-time users as tooltip.
Error prevention by adding a "cancel" button to give users the option to discard the planned route. To eliminate error-prone conditions, the "save" and "cancel" buttons have a visual distinction.
Provided a pop-up giving a confirmation option before the user commits to the cancelling action. Affirmative action text clearly indicates the outcome.
1.
Centralise vital information about Taronga Zoo
👉 Users can browse up-to-date events and announcements with a concise overview of saved cart routes and upcoming cart bookings on the home page.
👉 Account profile with route history are visible and editable for users to see progress.
2.
Receive and explore recommended cart routes to your specific interests & preferences
👉 Monitor the weather to help you select an optimal date for a meaningful zoo visit.
👉 Browse and search through recommended cart routes such as family friendly, conservation trail, and educational.
3.
Craft your own cart route with ample information and precise locations for enhanced convenience.
4.
Review your personalized cart route to ensure it meets your expectations.
👉 Users can customise their cart route with talks, shows, and animal sites.
👉 Map location, relevant information and frequently planned destinations assist users in decision-making.
👉 Save your cart route for future cart booking on the website by entering intended visit details.
👉 Share it with your companions for convenient reminders before your zoo trip.
Since this project was for a unit taken in my first semester of my masters degree, I was introduced to a lot of new design research methods and it can be quite overwhelming. It became a really memorable project for that same reason as it challenged me to critically analyse research findings into actionable insights and opportunties. After all, what's the purpose of utilising various methodologies without informing and guiding our design decisions?
When it comes to collaboration on a system together but being responsible for our own device, I found that consistency across devices with predictable and uniform visual elements is crucial. We developed the design system collaboratively to ensure buttons, images, fonts and colours utilised were harmonious and in tune with one another.
The importance of iteration became evident. In the beginning stages, I began with sketches to explore different options that would align with user goals, especially in planning a cart route prior to visiting the zoo. Incorporating the feedback from peers, mentors and users during the refinement of my high-fidelity prototypes proved invaluable. Sometimes you miss silly details and you think why didn't I consider that before?
And finally, I learned the significance of information architecture and visual hierarchy. Validation from user testing was vital in logically and intuitively organising information for the digital application. Visual cues like colour, size and contrast were important in improving clarity, actionability and affordance. By accentuating key elements, creating hierarchy and categorisation, users were able to find information more easily and efficiently.