VirtualVenue: Solution to Overcrowding
My Role:
UX/UI Designer
Project:
Final course project at the University of Waterloo
Responsibilities:
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UX Research
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Wireframing & Prototyping
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Project Management
Timeline:
Jan - Apr 2023
Overview
The Scope
My capstone course at the University of Waterloo challenged me to create a solution to a problem while making use of digital-twin technology. My team and I needed to design a product supported by research, create a high-fidelity prototype and present our solution and findings.
First Glance
We created VirtualVenue as an all-in-one solution for event planning and crowd management. This application aims to revolutionize the event planning industry, build a safer experience for attendees, and make the lives of event planners easier.
Design Process
Research
Discovery
We began the journey by exploring potential users involved in large-scale events, the causes of overcrowding, and the pain points of event planners and security guards.
Research Methods
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Secondary Research
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Case Studies
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Interviews
Problems in the Event Industry
Overcrowding continues to worsen due to lockdowns lifting, leading to safety concerns
Poor building infrastructure and event management can lead to crowd crushing
An event planner’s job is overwhelming, with a lack of innovative tools to streamline their tasks
Security guards have gaps in communication with each other during operations & emergencies
How might we make planning events in convention centers more efficient, safer, and more meaningful to both attendees and organizers?
Holistic Approach
There are many jobs to be done in order for events to run smoothly, and we quickly realized that the solution needed to include more than just event planners as users. We also put thought into how our solution would positively impact other parties involved in events, such as attendees and emergency first responders.
Target Users
Event Planners
Event Security Guards
Maintenance Workers
User Interview: Head of Security at Scotiabank Arena
Findings:
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Guards face communication struggles due to many layers of departments
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Directing emergency personnel to emergencies must be considered
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Collecting real-time foot traffic data can be utilized by senior management
Overcrowding
With the help of recent case studies, we concluded that crowd crushes can occur from poor event planning in the form of a lack of navigational paths and exits, and a lack of understanding infrastructure limits and maximum capacity.
Ideate
Solution Refining
Many sessions of brainstorming, affinity diagrams and mapping lead us to make our final decisions.
Affinity Diagram: Crowd Control
We asked ourselves, how can we control the crowds? And we challenged these ideas by thinking in a real-world context and how related parties may benefit and support them.
Brainstorm: Timeline
We wanted VirtualVenue to provide different features taking place before events, during events and after events.
Mapping: Main Features
Creating maps was an important step before designing the interface. It helped us stay on the same page while we created wireframes together.
Design
How it Works
We visualized VirtualVenue to be a powerful tool to view an event space with real-time foot traffic and offer intuitive features to identify overcrowding, safety risks and infrastructure malfunctions. It would allow for event planners to visualize and plan events in the space, and utilized the collected data for post-event reports.
Enabling Technologies
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Thermal Cameras - tracking real time crowd density
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Rogers 5G network - rapid data transfer speeds
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) - to alert for risks and outages
Interactive Prototype: First Iteration
Press "R" to restart
Fan Expo at the Metro Toronto Convention Center was referenced as a sample event space. The team pulled through to bring VirtualVenue to life with an MVP to convey our main features.
Testing
Initial Feedback
At the midpoint of the term, we pitched our solution. It was a pivotal moment for us to process a great amount of feedback from fellow students and professors to improve our second iteration of the application.
Usability Testing
We created a narrative for our participants to follow. It helped put them in our target user’s shoes while they interacted with the prototype. We requested them to use the think aloud protocol to help us understand their processes.
"You, an event planner, must ensure that FanExpo goes smoothly while maintaining the safety of attendees."
Insights
Emergency SOS feature needs more detail to work effectively
Maintenance section is confusing to visually process
Crowd shaping suggestions need visual hierarchy
User tasks were easy for most participants
Notifications alerted participants effectively
Shallow learning curve for navigating maps
Dashboard
We removed “Venue Health” in favour of adding more relevant information to the other two widgets. And we reorganized the crowd shaping suggestions by simplifying language and adding call to action buttons to allow for improved comprehension.
Maintenance
We optimized this section by distributing the information more evenly, eliminating redundancy and creating a separate subpage for security cameras. This reorganization allows users to better understand the status of building infrastructure and how to respond to issues.
Emergency Feature
We expanded this feature with details provided within the page allowed for customizable options, and necessary descriptive information for first responders to prepare for the situation. Additionally, all users are notified of active emergencies with an overhead bar on the app to communicate that help is on the way.
Results
A Success!
Once our final pitch was over, we were thrilled to receive top marks for all our efforts throughout the term. Our professors were quite pleased with how our solution turned out.
"Your prototype walkthrough was fantastic!" - One of our professors
Interactive Prototype: Final Iteration
Press "R" to restart
Reflection
Next Steps
In the event that we would continue this project further, we had our goals lined up. We wanted to upgrade to 3D maps, establish the pre-event and post-event interface features and expand to more types of event spaces.
Constraints
Looking back at the scope we set for ourselves, we may have bit off more than we could chew for the time limit. Keeping tabs on multiple types of target users was definitely a challenge, but the ambitious nature of it excited us.
Takeaways
Due to the nature of the course (and my program in general), I was expected to take on multiple roles and collaborate closely in a team. I now feel equipped to “wear many hats” and keep a positive attitude while working with others in future work. I found it to be a healthy challenge that I reflect upon afterwards.
Alternatively, having the chance to test the product with real people and gain a great amount of feedback to utilize for improvement was something new for me, and I found it very rewarding. Being able to go back and improve designs based on what’s best for users is essential in this industry.