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Design Process

User Research

Using Google Forms, I created a short survey to determine the issues of Parking at DigiPen. As a person that parks at DigiPen I already had my own insight, but I needed more data to determine more precise issues. I posted my survey on Facebook, where I am friended with numerous DigiPen students, both former and current, as well as various staff. I also had a few other students share my survey to reach a larger target sample. 57 students responded and 12 staff/faculty members.

Student Surveys

Important Numbers

  • 2.65 Minutes to park on Average

  • 5 Minutes to park is the Median

  • 40 Minutes to park is the Max

  • 39 Minutes is the Range

Faculty Surveys

Stakeholder Interview - SVP Institutional Facilities

  • No one monitors parking because it would take 6-8 people daily to monitor it

  • Every time deals are made with nearby buildings for spaces students misuse the spots and are rude

  • Have made a deal with Overlake, place across the street, for 54 spots and Covance, a neighboring building, for 32 spots

  • The information was provided to a Design professor, but nothing came of it

  • The new building, which is not official, has potentially 40 additional spots

DigiPen Parking

For one of my classes, we needed to identify a problem with one of the systems at DigiPen. We then needed to conduct interviews and come up with a solution to our problem. 

The Project

For this project, we had to come up with a problem area at DigiPen. We then needed to gather data that would back up our findings and prove what the issue was. Stakeholder interviews needed to be conducted, and then we had to detail a solution to the problem. I chose to focus on the parking problem and went from there.

Stakeholder Interview - Chief Operating Officer

  • An additional shuttle was bought, but they’re still in the process of hiring a driver

  • They’re still trying to lease more parking spots from Overlake, Covance, and the new building

  • They worked to bring the scooters to Redmond as a whole

  • DigiPen doesn't limit nor enforce parking passes

  • They’ve considered a paid parking permit situation to discourage driving, but more for a semester-long permit situation than a year-long pass

The Problem Statements

Discovery 1

DigiPen has too many students parking and not enough spots.

Discovery 2

DigiPen spots are hard to make out among the other spots.

Discovery 3

DigiPen parking spots are too small for students.

Discovery 4

Students have an easier time finding spots in the  morning.

Discovery 5

Faculty has an easier time finding spots.

Statement 1

Modify the method of providing parking spots for students to prevent overcrowding.

Statement 2

Modify the parking spots for the students so they are easier to see.

Statement 3

Modify the parking spots for the students so they are easier to see.

Problem 1: Overcrowding - Solutions

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Solution #1

Number the parking spots and assign the parking spots to specific students.

Solution #2

Cap the number of parking passes that are provided to students and monitor it.

DigiPen has been well over capacity for their space for a while now. They're not going to let up on their acceptance rates, so we need another way to combat the overcrowded parking lot. Both solutions are trying to focus on preventing overcrowding with realistic and feasible solutions.

Problem 2: Hard to See - Solutions

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Solution #1

Repaint the parking spots so all text is readable.

Solution #2

Add signs in color in front of DigiPen parking spots.

Often people don't know if they're able to park in a spot. It might be staff parking or not even DigiPen parking. The two solutions that I proposed are trying to make it easier to see what type of parking it is. With the sign option, they could even use color-coding or symbols to mark staff vs regular parking making it a lot easier to understand from a glance.

Problem 3: Small Spots - Solutions

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Solution #1

Repaint the current parking spots to eliminate compact spots.

Solution #2

Rent more parking spots from other buildings with a focus on non-compact spots.

A majority of DigiPen parking spots are compact spots. These spots are nearly impossible for any non-compact car to fit into. By repainting they can provide larger spots, but this then means there will be fewer parking spots overall. Renting more parking spots could help, but most of the other buildings don't want to give DigiPen any more spots.

Statistics

Current Spots

  • Executive spots: 18

  • Visitors: 13

  • Handicapped: 9

  • Faculty/Staff: 116

  • General (student): 293

  • Open (first come, first served for the complex): 38

  • Shuttles: 4 (due to their parking width)

  • New building: 40

  • Extra: 86

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Current Students Registered to Park

  • 300 Students registered to park as of 9/25

What this means

  • 116 Faculty spots for over 400 faculty/staff

  • 293 General spots for 300 registered students and 800 other students

  • 124 extra spots scattered about for the remaining people

  • 22/79 registered cars live within walking distance (2 miles) which comes to roughly 28%

User Testing - Overall Fedback

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  • 4 DigiPen students were interviewed

  • All would enjoy having their own spot, there was a concern on the impact of others

  • 75% feel a priority system would be fair

    • The other person felt they didn't spend enough time at school as the years progressed​

  • Half of those interviewed felt paying would be okay

    • One person felt it would be fair after they found out why paying would be required​

    • The last person felt the price was simply too high

Going indepth on Problem 1

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The Problem

#1
Modify the method of providing parking spots for students to prevent overcrowding.

Target Users

Students who drive to DigiPen

School Value

Success

The Proposal - Solution 1

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Number each parking spot and have a first come first serve for the students with a priority to seniors, juniors, and people that live far away. Making sure to consider the size of the cars when assigning spots. Adding a rule to turn all parking spots into free for all by 4 pm every day will mean all students could still find parking later in the day.

Production Constraints: Time

The timeline is short due to ProjectFUN and classes. Painting could be done when summer classes are over, but it may interfere with ProjectFUN.

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Production Constraints: People

DigiPen would need to hire painters to do the work. This would also need to be approved by the executives and the owners of the building.

Production Constraints: Cost

  • 493 parking spots x $4.50 repainting all lines = $2,218.50

  • 301 parking spots x $3 painting numbers for students = $903

​Extra Painting

  • 116 parking spots x $3 painting numbers for staff = $348

  • 116 parking spots x $3 per letter painting Staff = $1,740

  • 493 parking spots x $3 per letter painting reserved = $11,832

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Could limit the cost by making registering cost money ($20-$50 per semester or annually) which will also incentivize either living in DigiPen Housing, carpooling, or using the shuttle.

UCLA

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UDUB

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Saint Mary’s

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  • Charging for passes: 293 x $50 for academic year = $14,650

  • Painting lines and numbers $14,650 - 3,121.50 = $11,528.50

​Extra Painting Costs

  • Repainting Reserved text: $11, 528.50 - $11,832 = -$304

  • Repainting Staff text: -$304 - $1,740 = -$2,044

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Benefits to the School

Would limit overcrowding for visitors to park. Potentially could minimize student complaints towards parking. Further, this solution would self-regulate people without parking passes.​

Benefits to the Students

This would provide students their own spots so they can easily make it to classes. Would encourage them to carpool with classmates. Could also provide 2 passes to share with someone for days they don’t have class.

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