gotTOgo
Project Overview
As part of a class project, gotTOgo is meant to act to
improve
the citizenship experience of the people of Toronto.
With the growing problem of finding public bathrooms, gotTOgo
aims to streamline the quest for public restrooms in the city,
offering citizens and visitors a convenient solution to locate
nearby facilities swiftly.
What is gotTOgo?
Nina Bouseh
Iqra Malek
Ummen Naseer
Russell Lau
Team
Figma
Miro
Google Forms
Tools
My Role
Sprint lead for design development and prototyping
Evaluated research insights and developed features
Lead development of UI and high fidelity design.
4 months
Sept 2023 - Dec 2023
Time
Finding a bathroom in Toronto
The average Toronto-nian has to resort to using restrooms in restaurants and malls, where you may have to be a customer to gain access. Disabled people, homeless people, pregnant women, children and elderly people are all disproportionately affected by the lack of publicly available toilets.
Background research proved that “residents have to rely on a patchwork of restrooms – some locked, some poorly maintained, some with erratic hours – prompting accusations that the city is failing to create accessible spaces for all” (The Guardian, 2020).
To truly understand the underlying pain of the public, we gathered 36 survey responses through Google Forms and conducted 10 interviews with people who live or work in or regularly commute to Toronto.
We gathered the following insights:
The Problem
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How we got to the solution: Understanding citizens' needs
34/36 survey respondents expressed high levels of frustration when trying to find a public bathroom in Toronto
80% survey respondents expressed that they had either been in an unsafe situation when using a bathroom or were concerned about their safety
29/36 survey respondents admitted they refrained from using a public bathroom due to concerns with accessibility and cleanliness
"I dont know when the situation in Toronto got this bad. Public bathrooms are practically unusable."
-Interviewee 1
"I thought finding a bathroom in a big city like Toronto would be easy, but it's been a real challenge. I end up buying a coffee just to use the restroom."
-Interviewee 2
"I love the parks in Toronto, but many of the restrooms are closed during the off-season, which makes it hard to enjoy a long walk."
-Interviewee 3
People had varying expectations and preferences when looking for a bathroom
Most people use their phones to locate a clean bathroom - like ones in universities or restaurants
Most participants had negative emotions when looking for a bathroom including feeling panicked, fearful, annoyed and unsafe.
Key Findings
Design Challenge
Iteration 1
Iteration 2
How can we help the citizens of Toronto locate updated, reliable information about bathrooms around them to ensure that it meet their accessibility and cleanliness needs.
Understanding our target users' needs, we were able to brainstorm some ideas to develop a solution.
Each of these initial ideas were then ranked based on feasibility and impact. The ideas that scored the highest in both categories were:
Participants were given 4 tasks to complete on the first iteration of the design. Based on users feedback, changes and improvements were made to create the second mid fidelity prototype
Using feedback and our users’ experiences from testing, we drafted a second iteration of mid-fidelity wireframes.
My team and I wanted to keep the users first with these wireframes, keeping in mind pre-established industry standards.
We prototyped these wireframes and continued testing:
Combining the two solutions, we created the low fidelity first iteration of gotTOgo:
a way for people to leave reviews and ratings based on their experiences
the ability to monitor wait times and live updates of bathrooms in real-time
User Needs
Possible Solutions
locate a suitable bathroom near them so they can access it quickly
assess bathroom cleanliness so that the can guarantee its hygiene before getting there
check the amenities available so they can ensure their comfort
find out expected wait times so that can explore other alternatives beforehand
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Bathroom Pass: Skip the line
Bathroom Map
Needle Disposal Boxes
Rating System
Live updates on
cleanliness and
wait times
Rating System
Live Status
Browse by map
Browse by list
Bathroom information
w/ amenities and
accesibility standards
Bathroom review
With our mid-fidelity wireframes fully prototyped, we conducted usability testing on 10 participants.
We asked the participants to complete major tasks which included:
Accessible Design
Strategic Approach
Process
Findings
Think Aloud Evaluation (T.A.E): allowed the understand
users’ subconscious thoughts
New Ideas
What needs work
Semi-Structured Interview: Allowed us to ask probing
questions to understand users’ decisions
Increase use of iconography
Adjust button sizes for better usability
Finding history should be easier
Accessible design is crucial for ensuring that everyone,
regardless of ability, can use and benefit from our product.
By incorporating universal design principles, we must
address diverse accessibility needs, creating a simple yet
efficient user experience.
Strategic planning and setting timed individual goals were essential for collaboration. Employing a strategic approach in research allowed us to effectively manage parallel design stages, ensuring that we achieved our goals efficiently.
This approach not only streamlined the process but also enhanced our understanding and execution of complex design tasks.
Increase map overlays and settings
to help with accessibility
Add a compass to ease use of direction
Methods
Find and navigate to a nearby bathroom
Leave a review for a bathroom nearby
Add a specific bathroom to your favourites
Navigate to the nearest possible bathroom immediately
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Introduction
Participants were introduced to the project
and usability testing process
Consent
Users were asked for their consent after providing
relevant information
Usability Testing
Participants were asked to complete tasks using the
prototype while thinking aloud
Interview
Participants were asked a series of questions after
completion of tasks
Reflecting Back
