-Redesigning Amtrak Station
Davis, CA
Intro
The project is part of the final project for the Human-Centered Design course at UCDavis. I worked with a group of three students in design and media studies. My urban design and architecture background helped me in doing user experience research and design for this project.
Year: 2019
My Role: UX researcher and designer
Timeline: April-June 2019
Research Method: In-depth interviews
Research Type: Exploratory and evaluative research
Problem Finding
We reviewed the general plan and documents already prepared for the station. After that, we interviewed several users. We found that the main problem is that the Amtrak station is not connected to the other parts of the city. It lost its character during the years.
Journey mapping
We came up with Theresa, a woman in her late 70s, her story was unique to us because she has used Amtrak station for several years. We chose her as our persona, created her story and POV. we found that:
Amtrak is no longer community driven. How can we improve the Station so Theresa can feel more attached to it?
Journey mapping
Persona creation
Prototyping and prototype testing
Based on the stories we got, we came to the first iteration of the prototype:
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By testing our porotype we found that the users:
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They think Amtrak is not a community hub.
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They feel little connection to the station building
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here is some confusion when it comes to usability and access of information
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They think the building is boring and old.
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They think the seating is outdated.
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They think the station could be better geared towards modern users like them
Users liked both the idea of an open concept cafe, as well as the idea of a more closed café.
Incorporating signage into the cafe/bar could improve the user experience, especially when
travelers need to know when their stop is coming
Reflections
We learned how to craft meaningful stories for our design. As an architect and urban designer, I learned how users can be involved in the process of making their communities creatively. I also learned how to distill my skills in urban design and planning in human-centered design.