Assignment: Evaluate parking meter interface
To evaluate a new parking meter interface for the international market, the UXalliance was asked to conduct a global usability test. The goal of the test was to find out what the strengths and weaknesses of different concepts were. And since the test was done in an early stage of development, test findings could easily be used to improve the designs.
Besides in the Netherlands, the usability test was also conducted in the United States and in France. As the UXalliance already conducted a global review on parking meters in 2008, the challenges of designing a high quality parking meter for an international audience were well understood.
Method: Global Usability Test
By doing a global usability test, feedback could be gathered from users in different countries. In this way it was possible to study whether the interface could be used for the diversity of tasks that are relevant for these countries.
To make the test as realistic as possible, we used a high-fidelity mock-up of a typical Dutch parking meter. The mock-up consisted of a parking meter to which we attached a 7'' touch screen. To make the test environment even more convincing, the setup was enhanced with a large-scale photo of a street in Amsterdam behind the parking meter (see photo below). During the test, participants carried out various tasks on the different design concepts, like buying a parking ticket for a specified amount of time.
Results: Complex concepts dropped
The global usability test made it clear that some of the more complex concepts did not work as well as intended. Based on these findings, the designers of the parking meter interface decided not to further develop these concepts.
For the other design concepts the test clearly showed that the use of a touch screen can make the parking meter more intuitive. Compared to ‘traditional’ parking meters that use fixed buttons (see our original parking meter review for examples), the interface can easily be adapted to support the specifics of a task. This makes a touch screen interface much more flexible.
Visual design made by Attoma
However, designing an interaction on a small touch screen is still not easy. Especially when the product is used by a global audience and should allow for multiple tasks (that will differ between locations) the design remains a challenge. Therefore it is essential that the designs are tested in the different countries.
By conducting a global usability test in the early stages of the new parking meter design, the client could choose the best concepts. In addition, the test gave recommendations for the improvement of the remaining concepts. This enabled the client to produce a parking meter that is much more flexible than traditional parking meters, but also intuitive for users throughout the world.
For more information about this study or on global user testing please contact us.