Programme

Global usability testing in parking meter design

Format: Oral presentation 20 min, Demo | Language: English | Tags: research, ubiquity
Speaker: Wouter Sluis-Thiescheffer | User Intelligence | @WouterS_T, @UI_Ams

Abstract
When thinking about the task of using a parking meter, you might expect this to be the same around the globe. Getting a parking ticket in Brazil shouldn’t differ much from getting one in New Zealand, should it? ??Strikingly, no two parking meters are completely the same and the complexity of operating the parking meters varies considerably. At least, that was the outcome of a global user research study conducted by User Intelligence in 2008. ??The parking meter in Amsterdam appeared to be one of the worst parking meters in the world. Perhaps because it was originally designed for the French market? Perhaps because it needed to cater for so many Amsterdam specific parking scenarios? Who knows! ??One thing is certain, the interest of parkers was never considered in the design! ??New parking meters are now being tested with users around the globe. A prototype touch screen interface was tested in The Netherlands, France and the US. We would like to demonstrate how these global tests are being conducted, what the challenges of global user research are, and how it can contribute to creating better products and happy parkers!

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About Wouter
Wouter’s background is in neuro-linguistics and User System Interaction with children. He’s been working  for User Intelligence since October 2009. As a User Experience Consultant, Wouter has worked for small and global enterprises. His activities include the development of conceptual designs, but primarily design research around online desktop and mobile applications.