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.