Thesis Statement
The current WMU parking system can be incredibly confusing. Occurrences ofdisputes over unclear or unintelligible signs and systems occur more and moreoften. As is, the current system is unacceptable. I plan to create a parking system that makes sense to read and can function together in a way that’s easily understood, regardless of language.
Students have a green sign with a number 1-5 denoting which kind of student parking it is.
Visitors have a blue sign with the letter V. Visitor parking tends to be less available and has less times to park.
Employees have an orange sign denoted with the letter E. Employee parking is available throughout most of the day in most spots.
Alternate parking passes that impliment the same color system and emphasis on letter will be issued instead of older more difficult passes.
Implimentation of a mobile app to assist with parking, ticket paying, alerts, and more parking related information.
Current System
The current system is the result of years of neglect to the system put in place years ago. Because of how students and visitors interact with these signs, confusion is extremely easy. Creation of a new system to fix the old system has to be studied in a manner that allows for multiple parties of seperate backgrounds to also voice their opinion on the matter. International students, handicapped students, local people, teachers, and students were interviewed on their opinion of what a parking system should contain.
Influential Sources
Systems that were similar to what I needed were graphical in nature but used multiple passes per system. Unfortunately, none of the systems used different types of passes. This meant I had to find my own system and ways to arrange the system. Following other systems wouldn't bring my answer, I had to make my own. The biggest influence was the answer to the Los Angeles solution to complicated street parking. What I found was a system I could dissect for answers. Why make it tall? Why use the colors picked? This required further research of my own with students from campus.
Los Angeles street parking sign redesign by Nikki Sylianteng
New York parking redesign by Pentagram Design
Design by Nikki Sylianteng
Early Testing
Using these early signs I was able to perform research with small interviews and tests. I would ask them to pull in to the parking lot with a student pass going no less than 10 miles per hour, read a sign I would put up, and successfully park within a time limit. Using this I was able find which signs were more successful than others in terms of conveying information easily. Signs placed in a lengthwise format using bold colors with simple identification symbols were the most successful signs tested. Among the most successful symbols was simply reusing the letter system of the previous system, albeit with different letters that were easier to understand. Being able to read these signs from left to right rather than top to bottom was important for understanding them on the go.
The Outcome
The process was quite difficult to use effectively, with so many suggestions coming in from everyone I tested and interviewed I had to sort each suggestion into a category to fix. The entire project was successful in identifying a problem and providing a solution, however finding the right solution will take more time than four months. In the future, identifying other people to interview to find more problems with the systems created would be necessary to further this project. During this project it became painfully obvious how easy it is for my to lose focus. Instead I would do sudden bouts of work rather than do constant small picks at it. This created a lack of small changes and only larger ones that occured so suddenly. I want to fix this by using a more dependable schedule in the future to work around. My weakness highlights my strength though, my tenacity to put my head down and push through most predicaments.
Sources
Sign Systems
1. New York Parking Sign System
2. NYC Beaches Sign Systems
3. Los Angeles Parking Sign System
4. Warsaw Airport Sign System
5. Bengaluru Airport Sign System
Websites
6. "Designworkplan." Designworkplan Wayfinding Design Airport Signage Photo Inspiration Comments. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
7. http://www.pentagram.com
8. "To Park or Not to Park." To Park or Not to Park. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
9. "Why Every Highway Sign in America Has to Change (Again)." CityLab. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Books
10. Rothengatter, Talib. Traffic Psychology. East Sussex, UK: Published for the International Association of Applied Psychology by Psychology, 1997. Print.
11. Hennessy, Dwight A. Traffic Psychology: An International Perspective. New York: Nova Science, 2011. Print.
12. Vanderbilt, Tom. Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says about Us). New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2008. Print.
13. Evaluation of Urban Parking Systems: A Report. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 1980. Print.
Interviews
14. Nguyen Ngoc Quang Minh (2016, January 19). International WMU Student, Tester
15. Danny Giancaspro (2016, January 19). International WMU Student, Tester
16. Nguyen Xuan Ngoc (2016, January 19). International WMU Student, Tester
17. Hoa Tri Le (2016, January 19). International WMU Student, Tester 313. Vân Nguyên (2016, January 19). International WMU Student, Tester
18. Nguyen Xuan Ngoc (2016, January 19). International WMU Student, Tester
19. Javier Muñiz Rosado. (2016, January 23). International WMU Student, Tester
19. Javier Muñiz Rosado. (2016, January 23). International WMU Student, Tester
20. JoAnn Atkin (2016 February 16). Marketing Professor, interview
21. Paul Sizer (2016 January 20). Design Professor, interview
21. Paul Sizer (2016 January 20). Design Professor, interview
22. Tim Walther (2016 February 22). Civil Engineer, interview
