Problem

When it comes to sending money from your bank account, you likely take the time to triple-check everything to ensure it's correct. It's a prudent approach, especially when dealing with high-stakes transactions.

In the world of cryptocurrency, that same sense of caution is even more crucial. Many crypto enthusiasts view digital currencies as just as valuable, if not more so, than traditional fiat currencies.

However, for those new to crypto, the uncertainty and risk involved in making investment decisions can be daunting, leading to a lack of trust and hesitation. That's why we're focused on addressing these pain points and helping newcomers to the crypto space feel confident, secure, and informed when making investment choices.

The Overview

This case study was created to demonstrate the similarities between designer and planner.

Confusion is what often overtakes the face of fellow designers when I inform them that I was once a former professional urban planner. The question that immediately follows is:

"What does an urban planner do?"

If I were to inform an urban planner of the existence of a product or UX/UI designer they would likely respond with a similar question. Ironically, the two professions are seemingly oblivious to each other and yet, the two are astonishingly similar.

The empathetic relationship between the products created by designers and their intended users, is similar to the way urban planners craft the space that humans interact and live within.

The Challenge

At the peak of 2015, obesity rates and a lack of social cohesion were on the rise in most major American cities. As such, I challenged myself to provide an opportunity for communities to reconnect with their primordial roots and do something that has been enjoyed for hundreds of years: exercise and socialization through competitive play.

With the assumption that wealthier communities already have opportunities to mitigate habits that encourage obesity and social isolation, I decided to focus on helping communities that might not be able to afford simple amenities such as gym memberships or those that might not be able to afford to devote time to their personal well-being.

Source: OECD analysis of health survey data (OECD)

The Problem

Although urban planners generally rely on scientific knowledge to address problems that arise in the community, a great emphasis has been placed on utilizing "citizen science" in recent years. This describes the recognition of the value of the insights provided by people who live in the community that urban planners are trying to improve.

Citizen science in the form of informal pedestrian interviews was leveraged to obtain a general understanding of how people felt about their opportunities to exercise and how well they knew people in their neighbourhoods.

To further understand the day to day lifestyle of a low-income family, I tried to immerse myself in the communities where they might live and work. Although, I couldn't follow around low-income families for obvious reasons, I tried my best to move about the City of Toronto in areas that were informally known to be impoverished.

Pain points I imagined during this activity included:

Lack of ice breaker opportunities to get to know neighbours
Leaving early in the morning to get to a precarious job that is far from home.
Working all day and lacking the motivation to be active or social once home.

The Process

The activities below outline the conventional procedures undertaken when a structure is proposed. The focus of these activities is to understand neighbourhoods and how the proposed structure will interact with the neighbourhood once it is built. Empathy, problem solving, and critical thinking skills are required throughout the entire process.

Immersive Review

Site Visit

Getting out of the office and into the field to understand the nature of the subject site is invaluable. This is one of the first steps of any urban design process and was imperative to getting a feel for how bus shelters and their surrounding areas functioned.

Circulation Review

During the site visit planners record numerous types of data to bring back to the office for analysis. This observational data reveals to the planner who, when, where, and how people inhabit and travel through a given neighbourhood.

Desktop Review

Policy Review

One of the main stakeholders in an urban planning project is the municipality in which the project resides. There are rules to be followed when erecting a structure, whether it be as large as a skyscraper or as small as a bus shelter. These rules were extensively examined and applied to the project as constraints.

Demographic Review

It's easy to get lost in the design of your project, but as an urban planner the ultimate objective is the betterment of the community and the lives of the people that live within them. As such, a demographic review is conducted to identify how best to help the people that live in the subject area.

Land Use and Greenspace Review

Understanding how land is used in a neighbourhood informs planners on how the project will interact with the neighbourhood. For example, if there are several parks in the area, constructing an additional park will provide the community with minimal usage/value and may incur a high opportunity cost.

Public Review

Ideation and Site Plan Draft

Once all of the above has been considered, several concepts are ideated and a site plan is created. A site plan is the equivalent of a wireframe of a project that will be built in the future. Like a wire, it helps planners as well as other stake holders imagine what the project will look like before actually building it. For this project specifically, a site plan was not created as it required the involvement of a civil engineer.

Click to Zoom

Public Meetings

The site plan is shown to all affected stakeholders at a meeting that is fully open to the public to gather additional insights and information that could assist with final iterations of the concept before construction.

The Solution

To combat the rise in obesity and social isolation within communities, I redesigned bus shelters to provide commuters with an opportunity to burn calories while engaging in entertaining social activities.

The render above depicts an interactive multi-functional kiosk that displays information regarding public transit services and acts as the centre console that commuters or pedestrians can interact with.
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The two cranks on the sides of the kiosk are inputs/controllers that can be used to operate the activities available on the kiosk. These inputs are rudimentary by design, so that they can easily be used by people of all ages.
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The kiosk and controllers can be used by commuters and pedestrians to engage in fun, yet physically involved games that let people compete with each other. This installation will help people get exercise and meet new people as well.

These controllers will be connected to a battery that resides underneath the bus shelter. Therefore, all kinetic energy generated by people playing games will be harvested into electrical energy. For this, the participants will be rewarded with points that can optionally be used to discount bus fares.
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Different controllers could be replaced throughout the lifespan of the bus shelter to retain novelty and keep people interested.

The Reflection

Unsurprisingly, this project was unlike any of the design projects I am working on now. However, I was able to develop many soft skills that are proving to be useful in the product and UX/UI space — research methods, scoping out problems, and critical thinking. Furthermore, the problem space I attempted to address was a multi-faceted one, so I had to learn to consolidate a lot of information and ideas into an actionable solution.
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One aspect of urban planning that is significantly different compared to product or UX/UI design is the ability to iterate. Though iteration is encouraged in the digital sphere, iteration becomes staggeringly difficult when it comes to the alteration of finished buildings.

A solution to this barrier to iteration could be "mockup" tests that are conducted with cardboard cut-outs to simulate constructed buildings.

Insights

Our research confirmed what we'd suspected: several users expressed that anxiety about making costly mistakes created significant friction in the decision-making process.

To address this, we identified that providing comprehensive education and information to boost user confidence was the most effective way to alleviate this anxiety.

Additionally, users placed a high value on transparency and accountability from the platform, recognizing that these elements were essential in reducing their concerns and fostering trust.

By prioritizing both education and transparency, we can effectively reduce friction and support users in making more confident, informed decisions.

Results

Equipped with our new insights, we felt confident in making design decisions that would bring us closer towards our north star and have the greatest chance at making an impact on our users.

Below are some examples of the design decisions we made to educate users and boost user confidence.

Keep The Context

By making contextual information readily available at critical decision-making points, we aimed to help users base their trades on facts. We believed this approach would reduce the emotional intensity of the experience, making it more rational and less intimidating.

Simplify and Inform

By simplifying complex information, our goal was to empower users to make informed decisions with confidence. We also aimed to ensure they had access to all the relevant details needed to make sound, well-founded choices.

Additional details are provided at key decision-making points, ensuring users have the information they need when it matters most. These details are also accessible at other points in the flow, though they may be less prominent.

Final Deliverables

Applying the principles discussed above to the necessary requirements of the platform, we designed a full decentralized finance lending product. Below are a few samples of the final deliverables/outcomes.

My Portfolio

Asset Details

Takeaways

Although our engagement with the client did not extend to shipping the product or iterating based on measurable impact, our team conducted thorough qualitative testing to ensure the client was well-positioned for a successful platform launch.

Qualitative User Testing

Maze Testing

Based on data collected during qualitative testing, the platform's emphasis on keeping users informed and secure demonstrated a strong potential to reduce bounce rates and increase click-through rates within the trade flow. These improvements are expected to drive higher conversion rates and larger average trade amounts, ultimately contributing to increased revenue.

Introduction