Role
Product Designer
Tool
Pen & Paper
Figma
Adobe X
Duration
20 weeks
Numerous establishments lack accessible public restrooms, which is crucial for travelers to locate and use restrooms confidently. The absence of precise categorization in current existing application solutions poses a challenge for users, especially transgender individuals, in finding the specific restroom facilities they require.
1) Create more specific in-app categorization.
2) The user can provide feedback on locations.
In the United States, public bathrooms can be hard to find, with only eight public toilets for every 100,000 people. At the most basic level, the lack of public restrooms results from cities needing to prioritize them. One key solution is helping travelers accurately locate nearby available public and private bathrooms.
Research Goals
Identify who the users are
Analyze market competitors’ strengths and weaknesses
Identify user’s needs and goals
Assumptions
Users will only use service when they in-need of bathroom.
Majority of users would prefer to know the distance and navigation of the restroom.
Trans or gender queer people would prefer going to neutral bathrooms.
Methodologies
(Secondary)Market research
(Primary)Interview.
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Persona Development After Interviews.
There were three frequently mentioned elements:
1) Some online information about the facility needs to be updated.
2) Categorizations can be limited.
3) We need an accurate distance forecast for the nearest public washroom.
I set my scope to Mobile because the mobile version allows more mobility for users on the move. I created the following two personas based on my interaction with interviewees.
Competitive Analysis and Market Research
I look at existing solutions to see how they handle the issues. I picked the highest-rated apps and websites offering lost and found solutions for pets. And here are 3 of them.
Proposed Information Architecture
Essentially, this application has one primary function: Searching for a toilet nearby. The secondary function is to recommend new public restrooms or give feedback.
During the design brainstorming stage, I combined everything I had collected - personas, pain points, experience, and the IA. I started roughly sketching out concepts.
This system has two types of search methods: List search, which is search by keywords and demands, and map search, which focuses on locations near you. User can adjust their needs by highlighting features in the Preference sections.
To switch from LIST to MAP, the user can flick the screen, and the options will adjust automatically. This is to increase the convenience of the search experience since users are often in need of public washrooms when they are actively looking for them.
Here is the prototype, which includes onboarding and main flows.
Since looking for a toilet in public can be an irritating experience, I chose a more minimalistic and relaxing visual using modern blue and lightweight typography.
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Since this is only the beginning of this independent project, there is still a long way to go. In the future, I want to focus on:
1) user task testing in real life scenario
2) 3rd-party time map implementation for better navigation.
3) The secondary function is for users to recommend new public restrooms or give feedback.
In this project, I learned to be more open to different summarized users' pain points and create the minimum viable product for the problems. Frequently, design is a trade-off between multiple considerations, and the decision depends on the core needs of the tasks and the user context.
