BeachBuddy

How Might We... utilize crowdsourced data to improve parking information transparency in LA beaches to alleviate driver frustration and improve efficiency?

Research & Discovery

We spoke with local beachgoers who often arrived excited for their day, only to face frustrating hunts for affordable parking and confusing street signs. From interviews, we found three recurring problems:

Why this mattered for users: Beach trips were being cut short or abandoned entirely because of parking struggles. We recognized this was a preventable barrier inhibiting a positive experience.

Designing & Prototyping

Low-Fidelity: We prioritized core features (Search, Contribute, Forums, User Profile) to give users immediate ways to both find and share parking info. We borrowed familiar patterns from Google Maps, Instagram, and TikTok to help reduce the learning curve so users could acclimate to our app faster.

‍Mid-Fidelity Prototype: Added error messages and visual confirmations to reduce uncertainty when submitting or receiving parking data. Kept flows modular so each core feature worked smoothly before integrating them.

High-Fidelity Prototype & Style Guide: Applied consistent colors and typography to reinforce trust and brand recognition. Designed responsive layouts so users could check parking info on the go, on any device.

Usability Testing & Iterations

After 5 usability tests, we learned:

• Pop-ups needed to be less cluttered → Clearer details meant faster decision-making.
• Incentives were needed for contributions → Encouraged community participation for richer, up-to-date data.
• Profiles needed saved spots and better organization → Helped frequent visitors skip repetitive searches.

We implemented these changes to make the experience smoother, more engaging, and community-powered.

Outcome