Software: Adobe XD
Problem
When passengers are traveling with large bags/suitcases, they have to sit with their bags in the aisle-way, which disrupts the flow of traffic. Other travelers have to navigate around the large suitcase to enter/exit the train car as a result.
I aim to come up with a design that optimizes the space available on the train so large baggage no longer creates an inconvenience.
Audience
An effective solution would benefit all passengers on the T trains as they do not have to be bothered by passengers with particularly large baggage. More specifically, this solution would be targeted to those who choose to travel on the T with large baggage.
From personal experience traveling to the airport, I often feel bad that my bags create barriers in the aisle-way but I don’t want to pay to take an Uber/taxi to the airport instead.
Existing precedents
I examined some of the existing luggage storage solutions on public transportation, such as trains or the airport shuttles.
Process
When I was last riding the T, I noticed that there is space underneath the seats that isn’t being optimized. On the new orange line cars in particular, I admired how many of the seats could be “folded up”, meaning that unless you pulled down the bottom of the seat, there was open space to stand. This is shown below, in the bottom right hand corner.
With this in mind, I brainstormed a few ideas to utilize the space below these seats, as shown in the sketches following the image below.
Aside from implementing the space optimization solution, I also want to create a feature on the Transit app that allows riders to see if these storage options are available on incoming trains and, if so, which seats have open storage.
Initially, my goal was to add this as an additional drop-down under the Accessibility section regarding train information, shown on my early XD prototype below.
From here, I wanted to create a screen similar to seating diagrams when booking an airline flight that displays the seats on the train that are shaded green, meaning storage is available underneath, or red, meaning storage is not available.
This data could be gathered using weight detectors within storage bins, which would be translated to the app on a continual basis.
Interaction scenarios
The final Storage Manager has three functions:
“Status” - check storage availability for a trip a rider is about to take
“Reserve” - reserve a storage unit for a trip the rider will be taking in the future (at least 24 hours away)
“Order History” - check previously booked storage units and reorder if desired
To check storage availability, riders will plug in transit type, route, and date/time of travel. After entering this information, the app will display a diagram of the seats on the train selected in different colors according to storage availability.
Prototype
My final product focuses on the Transit app display as opposed to the design of the new storage bins.
A walkthrough of the app functions in Adobe XD can be found in the link below.
Future work
I gained a lot from the peer review process (ex: suggested changing color scheme from dark to light, differentiating between status and reserve features) but there were some suggestions I did not have time to implement. For example, creating a star option to favorite certain rides within the order history feature.
Additionally, there are currently only options for a rider selecting the subway option, so I would like to add routes for the other transport modes as well. The calendar also currently features one month (June 2020) for demonstration purposes, but this is something that would have to be updated to be changeable.
Since most of my project time was devoted to developing the Storage Manager feature on the app, I would also like the opportunity to explore the design of the new storage systems proposed.