G-Street Wheel
SPIN FOR CURIOSITY, EXPLORATION, & DISCOVERY!
DURATION
Jan 2023 - Jun 2023
TEAM
Emily Tonnos, Isha Tamrakar, Gennifer Hom, Giovanna Briano
TOOLS
Human-Centered Design, Prototyping, A/B Testing
INTRODUCTION
01
Google Maps (G-St, Davis, CA)
G-street, a pedestrian-only corridor between 2nd and 3rd Street, is the heart of downtown Davis, offering a diverse range of restaurants, small businesses, and outdoor seating. It is a central hub for the community, with everything within a short stroll from Second & G, making it the perfect starting point for an evening out.
How did G-Street adapt to the challenges brought about by the pandemic?
G-STREET ACTIVATION PROJECT
The City Council and local businesses collaborated to transform G-street into a pedestrian zone, enabling businesses to establish an outdoor public space accessible to pedestrians and bicyclists. The goal was to revive downtown city life by encouraging people to return for safe, socially distanced outdoor shopping and dining experiences.
CHALLENGE
However, not all businesses are equally visible to visitors, leading to variations in popularity. In response to the needs of the community, the Davis City Council has tasked us with discovering methods to stimulate traffic for the 16 businesses on G Street.
How might we make G-Street more discoverable?
RESEARCH
02
TARGET AUDIENCE
Identifying Key Stakeholders in Understanding G Street Dynamics
To start our research, we identified three groups impacted: G Street business owners, UC Davis staff, and local community members. We conducted interviews, contextual inquiries, and empathy mapping to understand people's wants and needs. Through learning their perspective, we can begin to understand the root of the problem.
CONTEXUAL INQUIRY
What can you tell about the problem space?
Our process began with a visit to G-Street, where we observed the atmosphere and interactions to better understand the current conditions. We used the following questions to focus our observations.
People: Who do you see? What inferences do you have about them? How are they using the space?
Objects: What are the physical objects that you can in the G-street corridor?
Activities: What is happening? What do you observe?
Interactions: What interactions do you see? What types of things are happening? Between who?
1:32 PM on Thursday, April 23rd, 2023
INTERVIEWS
Tailored Interviews with Diverse Community Stakeholders
We interviewed 9 individuals from various backgrounds, including G Street business owners, UC Davis staff, and local community members, to delve into emotions, understand user goals, and assess needs. We developed research questions and recruited the target audience for interviews tailored to address these inquiries.
Our team observed differing perspectives between business owners and lifelong residents of Davis compared to students, faculty members, and new visitors exploring G Street.
“I know this sounds heartbreaking, but I don’t have any friends who want to explore other stores with me."
BRAINSTORM
Understanding Audience's Emotional States
We carefully documented their experiences, noting any difficulties they faced (pain points) and any moments that brought them joy or satisfaction. Our goal was to have enough exploration so that we could get to the possible emotional states of our audience.
Empathy Maths
EMERGING THEMES
Uncovering Community Disconnect: Insights from Paulo and Others on G-Street
Through our interview with Paulo, we discovered that he feels his community lacks his passion for exploration. He feels lonely and he isn’t the only person facing this challenge. Some of the other people we interviewed mentioned how they didn’t know about the other stores on G-street outside of the popular ones like WonderBar, Woodstocks, and Temple.
KEY INSIGHTS
Supporting the Struggling G-Street Community
In our efforts to support the struggling G-Street community, we observed their challenges in discovering new businesses. Our goal was to address this challenge and overcome perceived barriers to effectively support their needs.
Recovering from Covid-19
After being sheltered due to the pandemic, people feel nervous about socializing. They are scared to go out and try new experiences.
Low Effort, High Value
Due to their busy schedules and varying priorities, people feel burned out. They want a reliable, stress-free experience.
Creatures of Habit
People who frequent G-street are creatures of habit and are loyal to their favorite businesses.
Loneliness
People are feeling more isolated. They are eager to connect to a community and are open to getting to know each other.
Through our research, we discovered that many people who frequent G-street are creatures of habit and are loyal to their favorite businesses. However, due to their busy schedules and varying priorities, exploring G-street is often forgotten.
How can we transform feelings of loneliness, fatigue, and fear of trying new experiences into a product that addresses these issues?
WHAT, WHY, HOW?
How can we capture the attention of our users?
We utilized the "what, why, how" diagram to pinpoint the product's essential features aligned with our research findings. Our objective was to translate the needs of the G-Street community into tangible, accessible, and enjoyable experiences. Through this exercise, we identified two distinct methods to capture the attention of our users.
What, How, Why Diagram
Our product should be ACCESSIBLE and INTERACTIVE.
The Goal
In order to create effective signage for G-Street, we think it's essential to focus on encouraging friends to try new places.
CONCEPT EXPLORATION
03
SKETCHES
Round One
We visualized the ideas from our diagram and created a concept sketch. We focused on the incorporating the element of interactive in our design.
Empathy Math, What/How/Why Diagram...
PROTOTYPING & VALIDATING
Round Two
We recognized we had a strong idea but decided to simplify it. We created two prototypes and tested them both.
We discovered people found the wheel more engaging so we scraped the tiles. Why did they find the wheel more engaging?
Empathy Math, What/How/Why Diagram...
USER TESTING
04
ROUND ONE
Gathering In-Depth Feedback
Location: G-Street Picnic Tables
We placed the spinners (10 in. by 10 in) in the middle of the picnic tables. We conducted short interviews with spinners and non-spinners for in-depth feedback.
Out of 50 people, only 26% engaged with it.
While not many people interacted with it, many people did notice or glanced at the wheel.
INSIGHTS
Foot Traffic: Wheels should be located in intersections with a lot of activity.
Wheel, Game, & Fun: People’s curiosity is sparked by something that resembles fun.
The wheel is Intuitive: People understood our call to action when they spun the wheel.
We learned that we had an engaging prototype, but needed to change size and location in order for it to be noticed more.
ROUND TWO
How can we enhance visibility?
Location: 3rd and G-Street Corner, G-Street Corridor
We increased the size of the wheel and placed it in an area with high traffic.
Out of 150 people who walked by, we had 74% user engagement!
- 39 people looked at the wheel & didn't spin it
- 73 people spun the wheel
“We were looking for something to do, so we spun it and it was exciting to see where we would go next."
If we had more money and resources...
We suggested that with the funding and right resources, having it at the corners of G-Street fastened to a pole in a large size and big lights would be the ideal method to capture the attention of the students.
Why is this important for the City of Davis?
This means more people will be eager to keep returning to G-Street, fostering an environment of community-building.
FINAL PROTOTYPE
G-Street Wheel
SPIN FOR CURIOSITY, EXPLORATION, & DISCOVERY!
See what the shopping and dining locations G-Street has to offer. Where do you want to explore next? Try a new local shop or restaurant!
IMPACT
on Local Businesses: Spreading awareness about less popular establishments on G-Street.
on Community Members: Creating new fun memories within the City of Davis. Helping people decide where to go and encouraging exploration and discovery
on the City of Davis: The Wheel concept can be applied to the broader city to encourage further exploration.
Hi there! I would love to connect >.<
Find me on LinkedIn. Chat with me at [email protected].