Manya Singh
UX Designer · Seattle, WA
Accessible Navigation at Arboretum
Signage system designed for Washington Park arboretum for visitors with Mobility Limitations
ORGANIZATION
Washington Park arboretum X Design Jam For Accessibility
ROLE
User Experience Designer
Team
Janet, Jiyae, Manya (me), Sarika
Duration
1 month
Overview
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 tool that helps visitors with mobility limitations navigate the Washington park arboretum confidently, providing essential information for an immersive experience without constant reliance on digital devices.
What the client wanted
Accessible Wayfinding: The arboretum desired to implement a more accessible and improved wayfinding system to enhance visitor safety and effectively showcase its beauty and everything it has to offer.
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, offering visitors detailed information about its flora, seasonal features, and trail highlights.
“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.”- The Arboretum Team
What the Arboretum currently has
Inconsistent signage system: The Arboretum’s signage system is Inconsistent with only a few faded signs along the main trails. This inconsistency 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 current state of the arboretum presents it like any other park, lacking information about the flora along trails and clear indications of the locations of plant displays.
“Hardly any labels on anything which I thought was kind of weird for arboretum” -Park Visitor
“We got a map, but we couldn't figure out whether if it was stroller friendly or not. Having that information would be helpful.” -Park Visitor
THE GAP: The Arboretum aims to provide essential information to visitors, and visitors seek the same details—yet there remains a gap in delivering this effectively.
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 it
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
Reducing Digital Reliance for Natural Immersion
With around 1 million visitors each year, the arboretum must cater to diverse needs, including providing clear, accessible resources for confident navigation. Many visitors 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 challenge is to provide essential guidance and support in a way that enhances the experience without compromising the serene, immersive environment that attracts so many visitors.
Need for a universal solution
After identifying visitors with mobility limitations as our target group, we focused on understanding their needs. Defining the values they 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?
Design Jam Day: After a month of research and analysis, we gathered for an intense 6-hour ideation and prototyping session. During this time, we received invaluable feedback from industry experts specializing in accessibility, helping us refine and strengthen our solution.
Solution: Signage System
We proposed 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, enhancing their experience without disrupting the natural environment.
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.
the Signage System
*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?
1. Presentation Deck: The presentation used on the day of the Design Jam 2024