Project Overview and Objective
We wanted to discover what challenges drivers in Chicago face when looking for a parking spot. Our objective was to determine whether a mobile parking spot location app could help drivers and to develop a requirements definition for the app.
Approach and Research Methods
Semi-structured interviews of drivers (snowball sample)
Created discussion guide for team members to use during interviews.
Conducted interviews to:
- Identify the recalled experience and attitudes of drivers.
- Look for any patterns of strategies (behavior) to located parking spots.
- Gain insight into context surrounding drivers’ hunt for parking spots.
Observation study – Naturalistic study of drivers looking for parking spot
Observe driver behavior in natural environment and understand context.
Competitive analysis of other parking spot location apps
Familiarize our team with features in apps with similar value propositions. Inform requirements definition.
Results
Parking in Chicago is a major frustration and hassle for a variety of drivers of different ages, occupations, and motivations. The interviews and observed drivers all have some strategy in place to help them find parking.
Two possible contexts for using parking spot location app:
- Go to destination and then hunt for parking (circle).
- Go to previously looked-up parking location and hunt if it is not available.
Drivers’ goal is almost always free or cheap, convenient parking. A need for a parking spot location app exists.
Requirements Definition
Personas – Communicating a user story to contextualize requirements
Developed personas from the information gathered about users and user habits during our semi-structured interviews.
Full Parking Karma Definition & Requirements Report
Mary Jo Zefeldt 