Austin, Texas is one of the fastest growing cities in the country, known as the music capital of the world. It attracts young college graduates as well as gen. X, some late baby boomers & attracts several million visitors a year. The primary destinations visited within the city typically lie around downtown in one of their many entertainment districts. These districts are highly walkable & include a variety of local shops, bars, restaurants, outdoor parks & other cultural destinations.
With so many destinations & activities; navigating & finding the perfect spot in one of these districts can be challenging. Our solution is creating a kiosk that simplifies navigation for daily events & locations in Austin. The key demographic affected are visitors & tourists in their 20s & 30s.
Before finding the solution to the design challenge, the team needed to identify the ultimate impact which was, wanting tourists & austinites to have the upmost experience of Austin.
The possible solutions were;
- AR wayfinding
- Featuring happy hours & discounts
- Events happening now & happening later
- Local attractions
- Cool off spots
- Night mode for nighttime tourists or goers
- Sizable Hispanic population
- 2nd fastest growing city
- Population consists of young residents, recent college graduates & retiring baby boomers
Prior to designing the kiosk, the team interviewed locals as well as tourists & researched in order to gain more knowledge about the user & identify potential pain points.
Based on the research & demographics, our main users were; nearby visitors who can be residents & Austinites looking for new destinations in the city & tourists looking for in the moment/happening now destinations since they are visiting for a short period of time.
Based on the data, the team chose to focus on these highly walkable districts, as well as giving an option for tourists who speak different languages. Through prototyping & user testing, we decided on a height that was accessible to users of all heights including those with disabilities. We chose League Spartan as the primary typeface because of its simplicity & readability, along with a monochromatic palette specific to each district.
The outcome is Stroll ATX, a wayfinding kiosk, that lets users find activities through an interactive panoramic view of locations within walking distance from each kiosk.
We included categories most important to our demographics, as well as listing relevant information that allows the user to quickly identify places they would be interested in. The user is then taken to a panoramic view where they can easily see events happening now or later as they pan around the street. Alternatively, they can view the same information in a list view. In both views, they have the option to get directions to their destination.
