Accessible Navigation at Arboretum
Signage system designed for Washington Park arboretum for visitors with Mobility Limitations
Duration
1 month
Team
Janet, Jiyae, Manya (me), Sarika
ROLE
User Experience Designer
ORGANIZATION
Washington Park arboretum X Design Jam For Accessibility
my Tasks
Stakeholder + User Interviews, Research Analysis, Persona Generation, Information Flow, Prototyping
Problem
Arboretum visitors with mobility limitations face challenges navigating paths due to insufficient information. While digital tools offer guidance, many prefer a device-free, immersive experience.
Solution
A signage system that helps visitors with mobility limitations navigate the arboretum confidently, providing essential information and utility for an immersive experience without constant reliance on digital devices.
Accessible Wayfinding
The arboretum desired to implement a more accessible and improved wayfinding system to enhance visitor safety.
Preserving Natural Foundation
The Arboretum sought to maintain its existing landscape, avoiding additions like new paths or alterations to the foundations.
Identity as an Arboretum
The Arboretum aimed to stand apart from a typical park by presenting itself as a living museum of unique and rare plants.
“The Arboretum is a living collection of plants, some of high conservation value. We ask you treat this collection as you would a museum collection.”
- Arboretum Team
A photograph by the Washington Park Arboretum
What The Arboretum Currently Has
They aim to provide essential information to visitors, and visitors seek the same details—yet there remains a gap in delivering this effectively.
Inconsistent signage system
The current signage is inconsistent, with few faded signs on main trails. This creates navigation challenges, especially for visitors unfamiliar with the park’s layout or those with accessibility needs.
Insufficient information
The arboretum lacks sufficient information on accessible features and tours, leading visitors to conduct extra research or make inquiries for basic details.
Knowledge gap
The arboretum currently feels like just another park, with little information about the flora along the trails and no clear markers for plant displays.
Mapping the touch-points observed during the field visit.
The Problem
Need for Digital Reliance in Nature
Visitors rely on digital tools to feel confident and informed but want to remain immersed in the Arboretum’s natural surroundings. The challenge is providing necessary information without disrupting their connection to nature.
Limited Inclusive Access
With up to a million visitors, the arboretum attracts a diverse crowd but lacks clear signage for amenities like rest areas, water fountains, and seating, as well as accessible trail information, limiting inclusive access to the park's features.
Understanding How To Solve This Problem
Understanding the problems faced by the arboretum visitors: 11 short interviews + survey
Understand the needs of users with mobility limitations: 2 long interviews with visitors with diverse needs
What The Users Want
Many visitors of the Arboretum feel disrupted by constant reliance on digital devices, which interrupts their connection with nature. At the same time, insufficient navigation support leaves them feeling insecure, particularly those with mobility limitations, hindering their ability to fully enjoy the arboretum’s offerings.
““The optimal is when I can put my phone away and knowing that if I follow this trail I'll get back to where I started.”
-Visitor with mobility limitations
Reducing Digital Reliance For Natural Immersion
The challenge
Provide essential information for diverse visitors without compromising the immersive environment that attracts almost 1 million visitors every year.
Need For A Universal Solution
Focusing on the most constrained or diverse user needs
Defining the values visitors with mobility limitations sought—connection with nature, having information to feel confident—helped streamline the design process and ensured the solution would meet their expectations.
Breaking Down User Needs
We analyzed what would create confidence for users with mobility limitations and identified the key information they required. This process provided clarity and focus, enabling us to develop targeted "How Might We" (HMW) questions to drive our ideation.
How might we design arboretum experiences for visitors with mobility limitations to feel confident in navigating the path?
How Did We Do It?
After a month of research and analysis, we gathered for an intense 6-hour ideation and prototyping session.
Ideation
During the design jam, we chose signages as the solution to address the challenges identified in our research. We explored existing solutions and conducted a needs-wants matrix to categorize and prioritize ideas, ensuring our approach was both focused and effective.
Inspirations
Proposed Solution:
Signage System
A signage system that delivers essential information for a diverse range of users. The system consists of two key elements: the first signage at the beginning of the trails and the second set at additional seating areas throughout the park. Each signage will provide the necessary information to ensure all visitors feel confident and informed.
Main Trail Signage
Rest Area with Integrated Signage
*Disclaimer: The background and the structure of the signage system has been generated by AI to visually represent our idea.
The Information That Gives Confidence
The end goal of this project was to create an environment that fosters an immersive experience, ensures visitors are information-ready, and instills confidence in their ability to navigate the arboretum. By designing solutions that prioritize accessibility and usability, we aimed to bridge the gap between guidance and nature immersion. Ultimately, we wanted every visitor, regardless of ability, to feel empowered to explore and fully connect with the beauty of the arboretum.
Want To Know More?
Presentation Deck: The presentation used on the day of the Design Jam 2024