Active Pathways - CDC
Challenge
How might we increase pedestrian activity along a route in Atlanta?
Design Statement
Redesigning the North Avenue Bridge and surrounding area would improve the walkability between Georgia Tech and Midtown. The modular designs could also be used throughout the city to enhance pedestrian safety.
My Role
I acted as site researcher to understand the past, present, and future state of our route. As user researcher, I developed personas and conducted interviews and surveys. Concept generation was a team effort I took part in.
Timeline
March 2018 - April 2018
Team Members
Michael Armstrong (ID), May Iyer (ID), Anna Taute (ID), and Kelsie Thomas (ID)
Sponsor
CDC - Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO)
Design Process
Defining The Problem
Understanding Our Route
The bridge at night
Site Research
The bridge has been untouched since the 1996 Olympics, and that is because it is directly on the edge of two different districts. This division has created a dead zone of development, but it links together two very important parts of the city. There are plans to create a connector road on the north end, so we designed with this in mind.
Understanding Our User
Survey and Interviews
We surveyed 40 students and alumni to understand route use.
Positives:
“It’s not a long walk to MARTA”
”Wide sidewalks on the bridge”
”I enjoy walking and being in the city”
”It’s a beautiful view of Atlanta”
Negatives:
”Cars are constantly in the crosswalks”
”The bridge gets very dark at night”
”Drivers turn without looking”
”There are no trees, so it smells like gas”
Who is and isn’t using our route?
Insights
Bridges often offer views of city skylines.
Car interventions increase alternative transportation.
Cars are more likely to pay attention when there’s an interesting crosswalk.
Pedestrian safety is compromised at night as visibility is reduced.
Users have an easier time understanding icons rather than text heavy signs.
Pedestrians feel safer where there is a barrier between them and the road.
People choose paths with others rather than empty ones.
Pedestrians are first focused on knowing where they are heading.
Design Criteria
Our four main criteria were developed from affinity maps made with our research and insights.
Design
We created concepts based on our four criteria
Feedback
We presented our concepts to the representatives from the CDC, and they gave us their feedback. While the bridge expansion was intriguing, the modular and cheaper ideas were valued highest.
Final Design
Our concepts of modular lighted barriers, lit crosswalks, digital phoenix themed signage, and wayfinding decals are all designed to be placed anywhere in the city. The increased lighting and pedestrian barriers increase the safety, and the signage provides pedestrians and drivers relevant information. We surveyed users to evaluate our designs as a whole system and individually based on our criteria found through our research.
Current
Concept
Modular Prefabricated Barriers
LED Crosswalks
Phoenix Information Lights
Wayfinding Decals
Business Model
We provided a business model to the CDC representatives to show how our complete system could fit together with customers and corporate sponsors.
Moving Forward
What I Learned
Design is not limited to a single idea.
Multiple designs are exciting to work with because the benefits of one can increase that of another. Working with multiple designs let us mix ideas together and be more creative in the process.
Client meetings are few and far between.
We met with the CDC reps three times during the project. These interactions were brief, so we had to learn how to prepare presentations and post discussions to gain the most feedback possible.