Context of Use

Initially the new bus route poles would be installed at inner-city bus stop. It is not necessary to have the poles installed in Bus-way stations as there are too many routes to display on the one pole and it is easy enough as is with large maps and digital time tables. All of the poles will be next to a road, so it is import that the pole is aesthetically appropriate, easy to see from a distance and meet public safety criteria.




Many contexts of use exist for the Press Destination. Obviously its main and most important context is catching the bus. As the general population increases, so do the amount of public transport commuters. The Press Destination will both encourage and assist when catching bus services in Brisbane.


Our intent was to design a bus stop pole that would be easy accessible to people who are physically or mentally impaired. Current bus time tables are useless to people who are blind or cannot read. By designing a bus stop that caters to these disabilities, means that anyone is able to use it. Three features of the design assist with this; brail, the priority seating button (activates a speaker both at the stop and on the bus) and the physical shape of route on pole.


Another main context of use for our device is everywhere other then the stops themselves. Twitter pages will be set up for each bus stop in Brisbane. This will allow commuters to access all information on selected bus stop; route images, bus numbers, times, location and capacity.

Moodboard

Research is key

I was having a look for similar or related concepts on the web when i came across an interactive trip planning map. The city of Zaragoza, Spain has partnered with MIT's SENSEable City Lab to design an interactive bus stop. In preparation of hosting the 2008 World Expo, the city installing a new bus service. The Lab's design, the Adaptable Bus Stop, incorporates several types of digital technologies in order to offer new services to the public, allow for cost-effective manufacturing, and enable the generation of advertising revenue. A parametric design model determines a unique design for each stop providing optimal sheltering at minimal cost. Bus riders can plan their trip on a interactive map, exchange community relevant information on a digital message board, surf the web, and use the media on the bus shelter as an interface to their mobile devices. It was really helpful finding this site as it gave us a point of comparison and shows the potential of our design. Below are some photos of the Spanish concept:

Persona's

Sarah McDougal – 19yo




Sarah is 19 years old and has been blind since birth. She is extremely independent and can do most tasks herself; however she gets frustrated by technology and public transport. Sarah lives at Carindale and needs to go into the city to see a specialist. She lives about 120 meters from the nearest bus stop which goes inbound. Because she has had trouble in the past with bus time tables, she leaves plenty of time in case she misses a bus. She walks to here stop in the morning at 9:30am, however her appointment isn’t until 11am. She activates the interactive timetable by standing in front/swiping here card. She then feels the pole to find the destination she wishes to go and presses the corresponding button. The display then shows the first two available buses on that route, going to the city. A voice is activated; “Bus 200 will arrive in 3 minutes - Inbound.” Sarah then sits down and a warning light is activated on the pole, which indicated to the bus driver there is a person at that stop






Jeremy Atkinson – 68yo


Jeremy is a retired tradesperson who lives at Forest Lake. He has bad arthritis in his hips and has terrible vision. He is unable to drive, walks with a cane and is intimidated by technology. His wife drives him around mostly and he works 3 days a week at a local retirement village. Jeremy is very stubborn and likes to do things for himself.

One Monday when Jeremy’s wife is working, he gets bored at home and decides to go down to the Oxley tavern for a few beers with some of the locals. His nearest bus stop is about 40 meters down the street. He gets to the stop and sees a twisted pole with buttons and L.E.D’s. He soon puts one and one together and realises that the pole is in the shape of the route the bus follows. This is a big help to Jeremy because he has had plenty of experience with maps and directions. The timetable is active when Jeremy gets closer and the whole thing lights up. L.E.D. lights and text are combined to show Jeremy where he is in relation to the route. He sees further down on the route is a button next to “Stop 28, Oxley Tavern”. He presses this button and the pole displays the position of the next two buses on route. Jeremy sees that the 345 is two stops away from his, so he sits down and waits.

Bad ideas are good?

Last weeks tutorial involved pairing up with a peer, breaking down our concepts and coming up with "bad ideas" of how our device could be used in other scenarios. I came up with three keywords that describe our bus map concept; time managment, route planning and public transport. With these keywords i began thinking of different devices that involve time managment and route planning. The first idea was a device that manages the time it takes for your daily tasks and transportation. The second was a device that helps plan alternative routes to your selected destination. We then had to think how these devices could be bad and write down all their faults. With the faults listed outit is then much easier to correct the desgin and adapt it to meet as many criteria as possible.

Another concept i had was a large interactive display that would be placed around major transport conjestion areas like the valley and the city. A huge map of Brisbane city and its transport systems would be displayed on a board. The user selects their intended destination and the map shows all the possible routes that go to that destination and where the bus/train/ferry stops are to get there. However we discussed the idea as a group and decided to stick with our original idea.