Problem Statement:
Students at Miami have forgotten the joy of riding a bike, and aren’t aware that it is a viable means of transportation around campus.
Solution Statement:
Show students that biking is a viable alternative to walking and or driving to class.
Research:
My research for this project existed on three different levels. First off were observations. I observed Students who were biking to class and how they interacted for example with bike racks or cross walks. I also observed students behaviors who drove to class. One of the main things I noticed during these observations was that more students were driving then there were parking spots available. Clearly there is a problem here that needs solving.
The second level of my research consisted of just talking to people. I talked to people who biked regularly and people who didn’t. I found through these discussions that most people are interested, in some level, in biking. Most people that weren’t “bikers” hadn’t ridden a bicycle since coming to school.
Finally I relied on my personal experience as a fifth year senior who only started biking to class this year I had a unique perspective into my target audience.
Initial Sketches/Concepts:
The Fast Way to Get to Class:
This concept leverages logic. By placing signage in specific stress points such as on parking meters and on top of bike racks. I hope to draw attention to biking as a viable means of transportation at a point where people are most susceptible.
This concept leverages logic. By placing signage in specific stress points such as on parking meters and on top of bike racks. I hope to draw attention to biking as a viable means of transportation at a point where people are most susceptible.
Bike to Class Day:
Bike to class day aligns with the inescapable fact, that people like getting free stuff. Bike to class day is a day where students are encouraged to bike by enticing them with free items that are related to and promote bicycling.
Bike to class day aligns with the inescapable fact, that people like getting free stuff. Bike to class day is a day where students are encouraged to bike by enticing them with free items that are related to and promote bicycling.
Borrow a Bicycle:
This concept capitalizes on nostalgia and the wonderful feeling of riding a bicycle. By providing people with bicycles that are free to rent for the day, I hope to remind people how much fun riding a bike can be.
This concept capitalizes on nostalgia and the wonderful feeling of riding a bicycle. By providing people with bicycles that are free to rent for the day, I hope to remind people how much fun riding a bike can be.
Final Solution:
Originally, I wanted to provide bicycle rentals to students on campus, as a promotion to get people physically on bikes and to remember how enjoying the experience of riding is. I had print materials, advertising the event designed and talked to the local bike shop, who were willing to donate bikes. Unfortunately however, due to the way Miami handles event scheduling this was not possible.
After taking a step back, I re-evaluated my thesis and realized that the end goal was to get students on bikes. And since I couldn’t actually provide the students with bikes myself I wanted to come up with a means to get people excited about biking through a promotional print campaign targeted towards freshman students. Who are most likely to be influenced into not only bringing their bike to campus but riding it to class as well.
Illustrations:
Going Forward:
Throughout the course of this project and semester it has become apparent that Miami students are definitely perceptive to the idea of biking to class. The problem is that many of them have forgotten the joy of riding.
Everybody has that distinct memory of the first time they rode a bike the goal however is to leverage those memories in a way that gets students excited about biking.
The best way of doing this is by getting students on bikes. In the future Miami should consider programs like Cincinnati’s “Red Bike”
