ROLE
Product Designer
TIMELINE
2023 • 3 months
RESPONSIBILITY
Overview
Navigation in the tallest building in Hungary could be definitely hard. Searching for rooms, toilets, lift takes a lot of time. Digitalising the wayfinding is a tough challenge, but if we are going to do it great, then the synergy between people and the building will be awesome.
Let’s imagine a world, where you don’t need to go all the way around in a building to find what you are looking for. Where you can reduce the time that you spend with searching for locations. Where companies are using the latest technologies to make the navigation easier, faster and accessible. Sounds idealistic. But that’s the real world – here and now, in MOL Campus.
Problem Space
When MOL asked us to revolutionise the navigation in the tower, we have faced with multiply challenges and upcoming questions.
Designing a navigation experience required us to think of the connection between digital design and the psychical world. Some people are sitting at their desk when choosing a destination and starting to move, while they are using the application. They are constantly interacting and scanning the physical world while trying to go to their destination with the help of the application. So in overall, a navigation needs to live together with physical building and enhance the possibilities of it.
Another problem space was the accessibility. In this case, accessibility is not only means Screen Reader feature. The whole building is built in an accessible way to make sure everybody can visit the building and the design needed to continuously follow this path.
Opportunities
The key words that motivated us during the design process was the synergy between the people, the building and the application which led us to find opportunities that can make the difference.
What if people are not only seeing drawn maps, but they can see their digital route represented in the physical building?
What if people can search quickly for the most frequently visited places, such as toilets, lockers and so on?
What if people can customise their travel preferences?
Design Pattern Research – Summary
Before jumping in, we deeply visited the most used platforms which are operating with wayfinding and navigation. Most products are used to give a much more complex experience because they trying to cover a specific location or building, they are covering a whole city, country or the whole world. Instead of that, there are commonly used pattern that can help us designing a great experience after we understand what helps the users.
Defining the Problem to Solve
The key is always to defining and understanding the problems that the users are potentially going to facing with in order to solve that problem, so we tried to apply the problem to our persona.
Hustling Professional
28 Years old
Lives in Budapest
Employee of the Marketing Department at MOL
Goals
Find the exact destination where she would like to go.
Always arrive to meetings on time.
Being able use the shortest route available.
Frustrations
Her meetings are often on the opposite side of the buildings or on different floors.
She is often in a hurry and using the app while she is walking.
Behaviour
Looking for the exact meeting room he needs to be in.
Trying to find the quickest way possible.
Trying to decide using the stairs or the elevator due to the high traffic.
Feelings
Confused
Desperate
Hasty
In order to shape the possibilities and the factors that might pull back the users to be able achieve they task, we pushed the Jobs-To-Be-Done framework at the starting point.
We also developed a user journey for the “Hustling Professional” persona, that can help us highly overview the specific steps what she does during completing the task.
Solutions
Let’s see what kind of actions did we take while building the navigation feature.
Easy access to the Navigation
There are cases when we need the navigation fast. Really fast. Time is a key value in business life, that’s why we added quick action to the map on iOS, so people can access the navigation feature within a second.
Search & Services
We should also think about people who are trying to access features, in this case, navigation in the app. Search and TabBar should be hand in hand, so we can offer multiple paths to the users to find their needs.
We added quick functions to the search results while displaying concrete services in the same list as well. This mix will support a much more faster interaction time, reduce the cognitive loading and people can access the most commonly used features in seconds, which is a huge improvement. Accessibility was a key guideline for us designing search, so we implemented it in the search bar for the easier reachability.
We also should be able to access services from the bottom of the screen. We included tons of features in one page, a central hub-like page, so people will learn in long term, that if they need a service, it can be easily manageable and accessible from a dedicated centre as well.
Dynamic Bottom Sheet
With the introduction of a sleek and dynamic bottom sheet, accessing the search bar, the most crucial interaction element, has never been easier. The bottom sheet also presents users with an abundance of additional features and options. There is even a "favourites" included a section so users can save your go-to places for quick and effortless searches. If the users cannot recall where they were yesterday, the bottom sheet has got them covered with its location history. It’s also seamlessly integrates with the office calendar, so user is never going to miss an event. When a scheduled event is coming up, it’ll display all the details users need to know, including the event name, distance, and start time.
Setting the Preferences
Traveling preferences are as unique as the individuals themselves. Some folks might quiver at the thought of elevators, while others may have disabilities that make stairs inaccessible. This diversity is what makes our world so wondrously varied. That's why, when it comes to navigation, the app is allow users to customise their preferences to fit their needs. There is a "Filter" button to the interface, allowing users to choose the mode of transportation that suits their best.
Creating the Way
The challenge of presenting results and displaying the route to a user's destination involves both visual and cognitive considerations. It is important for the user to quickly understand the layout and for it to be visually appealing. It was accomplished by using a bottom sheet style for displaying the destination, allowing the user to easily edit their location and chosen destination, which are also draggable. Additionally, we provide a suggested route that displays the distance, estimated time of arrival, and the steps needed to reach the destination. To prevent surprises, we also indicate if the use of an elevator is necessary, taking into account those who may prefer stairs.
When a user initiates the direction, we rotate the camera angle from a first-person perspective, placing the user at the origin of the screen. This creates a sense of realism, as if the user is viewing the environment from their own point of view. This perspective mimics the real-world experience of seeing what is in front of you. It happens quite often that we turn on the flashlight on the lock screen, right? To prevent accidentally tapping the "Stop Route" button, an expandable button was added next to the detailed information. Upon clicking this button, the "Stop Route" option becomes visible at the bottom of the screen.
Augmented Reality
There were a lot of advantages bringing AR to indoor navigation.
AR can be particularly useful for people with visual impairments, providing audio and tactile cues to help them navigate.
AR navigation can display digital information such as arrows, maps, and turn-by-turn directions in real-time, making it easier for people to understand where they need to go and how to get there
It can be used while walking, allowing users to keep their eyes on the road and still get guidance. This reduces the need to look down at a GPS device, making it safer for users to navigate.
We can provide a more immersive and interactive experience for users, making it more engaging and memorable.
Apple ARKit – RoomPlan
ARKit is a framework developed by Apple that allows developers to create augmented reality (AR) experiences for iOS devices. It was introduced in 2017 and is integrated into the iOS operating system. With ARKit, developers have access to advanced camera and motion tracking capabilities, which enable them to create AR experiences that can blend virtual objects with the real world. ARKit also provides features such as plane detection, light estimation, and object detection, which makes it possible to create AR experiences that are more immersive and interactive.
The SwiftUI RoomPlan API was introduced at the WWDC2022 Conference, that utilizes the camera and LiDAR Scanner on iPhone and iPad to create a 3D floor plan of a room, including key characteristics such as dimensions and types of furniture. It was a great opportunity to go through the whole MOL Campus with a LiDAR Scanner and get a detailed map in the building to create a generally new experience in the navigation.
Thanks to the RoomPlan, our indoor navigation was elevated to new heights. Rooms, elevators, and objects were no match for its powerful detection abilities, allowing us to guide users to their destinations in an intuitive, visually stunning way. Augmented reality navigation is truly a game-changer, but it’s understandable that everyone has their own preferences, which is why the control firmly in the hands of our users. They can effortlessly toggle between the map and AR views, making the experience entirely tailored to their needs.
To detect the users’ location, we are using AR beacons, which can precisely get the information if the user is navigating or not. While the users are walking with the help of AR, they visually see arrows, turn-by-turn directions which can guide them in the building.
Dynamic Island & Live Activities
Dynamic Island promises to revolutionize the way you interact with your iPhone, offering a seamless and intuitive experience. Multitasking is a common occurrence in the workplace, and we aim to support this through innovative features. Switching context between apps is really frustrating, so we can easily display multiple types of information in front of the users. With the live activities feature, you can easily keep track of important information while multitasking. This revolutionary feature makes it possible to follow live content while other activities take place in the background, making your life simpler and easier.
Small Touch for a Complex Experience
As people approach or are in close proximity to an elevator, our system detects their presence and provides assistance by informing them of the appropriate floor to reach their destination
The Outcome & The Takeaways
This project was one of my most challenging undertakings, both visually and technically, but ultimately resulted in an excellent outcome. I enjoyed working on this project immensely because it successfully bridged the physical world with a digital product.