Nicole Rogers Grace Anderson Jason Tea. Bike Link. Connecting Bikers in Bellingham

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1 Nicole Rogers Grace Anderson Jason Tea Bike Link Connecting Bikers in Bellingham

2 Bike Link Creative Brief The city of Bellingham has established itself as a place for tourism and a community of green commuters. The city would like to push it s initiative to increase the population of cyclists for locals and visitors alike. You are asked to propose a new system that will inform new cyclists of the area and increase the amount of bicycles traffic in Bellingham. Overview The city of Bellingham has established itself as a place for tourism and a community of green commuters. The city would like to push its initiative to increase the population of cyclists for locals and visitors alike. Currently the city of Bellingham Bicycle Master Planning is in its second stage of development. The draft includes the development of 130 mile network within the city of Bellingham to reduce the stress and pressure placed on cyclists travelling to key destinations. The City of Bellingham s survey of cyclists shows thats over 90% of responders cycled within the last year. Rather than focusing on strictly on increasing the number of people who cycle, Bike Link has determined it would be more beneficial to focus on increasing the number of hours that bike riders spend cycling. As a supplement to the current master plan, Bike Link has begun development on a mobile application which would help visitors and local residents quickly locate safe biking routes to traverse the city. As the implementation of new biking facilities are developed the application would update the user on new routes to use to help ensure the highest level of comfort, safety, and speed available for their preferred method of transportation. In addition to assisting users make use of paved bicycle facilities, the application will also connect users to local biking communities, other bikers and trails. A smart alert system will notify users if their preferred routes have obstructions when the information is available. It is our belief that having this information readily available at all times of day will help new cyclists, and old, feel more comfortable riding day or night.

3 Users Our users were determined by an onling survey, personal interview, and research of the demographic from the City of Bellingham Master Bicycle Plan. Experience Goals Product is easy to navigate and the ping feature provides a clear route for navigation. The features are intuitive to use and customizing features allow for the user to save their frequently ridden or top rated routes. Primary Persona - Libby 24, Bellinghamster Environmental PR at Peoples Bank End Goals The user is more aware of the biking opportunities in Bellingham and feels more connected to the biking community in Whatcom county because of the different features offered in the application. The user feels more comfortable trying to bike around town and is motivated to bike more often because of the ease of the app. Life Goals The user increases the amount they are biking, both recreationally and for commuting. They reduce their carbon footprint by using a form of clean transportation and become a more active member in the community by conversing with others on the app. Gear street bike helmet lock iphone laptop Avg Bike Time per week: ~30 mins Characteristics: outdoorsy takes yoga classes at a local studio weekly shops locally Biking Habits: Tries to bike to work, but feels discouraged by traffic, after-dark biking and weather. Doesn t like biking in the rain/doesn t feel safe biking at night Looking to connect with other likeminded people in town (now that she s out of school it s harder to meet people)

4 Bike Link Sign Up Sign up with Facebook Log in Proposed Solution Bike Link s primary solution to increasing the population of bikers is through the use of mobile applications because of the already in process investment by the city to create more routes for cyclists. With the planned changes being rolled out gradually the ping system will help users keep upto-date with new routes, and construction that affects their biking commute. For those bikers who are solely interested in socializing or becoming part of communities within the area the social media content will be a great addition to their on-the-go lifestyle. Bike Link s application will take user information and make it readily available for others, if a tree has fallen on a trail and a user reports it, others who check the status of their routes will be notified of the obstruction. Trails can also be rated based on difficulty for the adventurous, and quality for those looking for safer, more fluid rides. In addition to the mobile application Bike Link will supplement the wayfinding with better signage throughout the most frequently traversed trails. Bike Link

5 Current Location York Street 10 Mins Heavy Hit the Road Link Your Ride

6 Filter Whatcom Ed Lengeth (Miles) Whatcom Educational Credit Union 2.5 miles from here Eddy Whatcom M, miles biked 4 Biker Badges HIlls Car Traffic Intensity (Smoothe to Rocky)

7 Current Location York Street 10 Mins Heavy Next Right Ellis St in 50 feet Hit the Road Link Your Ride Ride Alex M 31 Connect N Garden St to Ellis St & York St 2 pm Time : COmment: 2 pm Link the ride Go for it Next time

8 Profile Profile Mile Log Badges Links 27 miles 4 Badges 3 Links Link Mason took a bike ride with a new friend Trail Mason went on a new route to work Everyone Connect My Links Review Mason wrote a review of the S. Bay Trail Link Nicole took a bike ride with Alex They made a new link! Route Jason went on a new route to work He road an extra 2 miles! Review Grace wrote a review of the S. Bay Trail She gave it Ride Alex wants to meet up for a ride He ll be at State St and N Forest St at 2 pm

9 Visual Design R 198 B 102 G 40 R 252 B 246 G 228 R 52 B 62 G 85 R 25 B 32 G 46 R 216 B 217 G 217 Fonts: Blanch Caps Din Regular Word List: Bike Connect Link Chain Community Friendly Cycling Fast Bellinghamster Trails Outdoorsy Local Collective Resource Transportation Mapping WayFinding Transit Commuter Safety Orientated Active Simple Informative Bike Link

10 Usability Testing Results During the testing phase of our product Bike Link logged users responses and discovered the following issues or points of confusion with the product. What follows is a brief description of the issue and Bike Link s current solution. Link icon is not easily identifiable, upon first look users do not know what it s intended function is: The link icon is central to Bike Link s identity, with some exploring the user will gain a better understanding of it s function and no adjustment is needed. Monitoring required. Alternate routes were not easily distinguishable from one another: When demonstrating multiple routes for the same destination, it would be helpful to differentiate the paths with separate colors. Update required. Difficulty understanding how to set destination/place bookmark/ drop pin on : This particular test type was difficult to pinpoint the users exact point in which the user experience broke down, as users of smartphones have general experience with ping applications it can be assumed that their expectations far exceed the limitations of paper prototyping. At this stage, this issue is medium priority, and further testing is needed to confirm a valid solution. Further testing is required. User doesn t understand what his friends can/can t see on his profile or what is shown to others when trying to link up : The design of the user profile lead almost all users to some form of confusion. Redesign and further testing required

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