Parking permit development

London Borough of Camden Parking Operations are one of the leading local government boroughs in the capital in relation to forward thinking parking solutions

Tasks

User Research

Customer Journey Mapping

Data Analysis

UX Design

Context

Camden needed to replace their ageing parking permit system with a new user centric product to ensure sustainability and business goals were aligned

Problem

Camden, hampered by budget restraints, had limited time and budget to determine a most suitable design approach - Discovery was an essential part of understanding user needs and requirements to ensure focus on design value

'Off the Peg' product approach to design

Political focus and importance

Environmental and sustainability consideration

Local government budget constraints

Research analysis

Quantitative data came from as is website satisfaction survey and calls to the contact centre.

Majority of users looked to obtain resident and visitor permits, so research focused on those two areas.

Data review

46%

inbound interactions were in relation to resident and visitor permits

46%

reported they were unable to complete the transaction online

Ecosystem map

Parking permit players

Key Actors identified

Outcomes

Noting the main players of the parking permit system helped identify the departments / areas most affected

Then the priority of key actors was easier to identify with feedback from those departments

Ideation and Storyboarding

To establish a focus for the design team ideation workshops were run to help generate ideas in relation to product design with a focus on the department and user experience

Mind mapping for a Camden parking permit holder

Permit parking for the driver reliant on the user they're visiting

Permit parking for the driver reliant on themselves to find a parking bay

Outcomes

Focus on the visitor and their own journey rather than a reliance on the user they're visiting

Quick and easy UX method to help focus team on problem and offer solutions

A standalone visitor parking permit application could provide stakeholders autonomy and reduce responsibility on the resident

Visitor permit duration

Permit duration component design

15 minute increments in a 'scroll' component

'Add more time' option for user close to end of visitor time

Booking a visitor permit session - lo -fi prototype screens

"All you really want to know is if you've booked a parking session"

Guerilla testing and data synthesis

Camden libraries testing 'as is' user journeys

Affinity mapping user pain points in 'as is' journeys

Takeaways and learnings

Public communications is key - older residents were concerned about the removal of paper visitor permits which held up the project, could have been avoided if this was relayed initially

Sustainable thinking - removal of paper permits constituted £30k's worth of savings as well as hitting our environmental target dictated by the 'Camden Transport Strategy'

Wearing a variety of caps - lack of resourcing meant Ialso contributed to design added a different perspective helping with copy and content layout