strengthen the familybond

With the help of augmented reality we created a design concept to engage parents to spend time outside with their children. We use the partner tuul as the solution to bring augmented reality games to life and connect within the family in a playful way by exploring the city.

context
We collaborated with an industry partner that actively operates both in physical and virtual world by providing experiences that are both off-screen and online. During those weeks we investigated the future vision of the industry partner five years ahead.

partner: tuul
Tuul stands for adding value to daily city life, reduces urban pollution and creates new standards for electric micro-mobility vehicles in terms of durability, convenience and care.

time, course
project duration: 6 weeks
course: Product design at EKA Tallinn
semester: 6th in 2020/21

kick-off
We started our project with the design challenge given from our mentors:

What are the possibilities of physical and digital interactions from the perspective of mobility?

desk research
In general we conducted desktop research to understand the status quo of mobility in Tallinn. After that we decided to research about how citizens behave while moving around the city. In specific people who are excluded from tuuls service while traveling.

"More flexibility,
more frequency,
more convenience.“

Thats what makes public transport
more attractive - Prof. dr. Frank Witlox

Local bus, train and tram transport is free in the capital Tallinn. It was the first major european city to realise a utopia and is still celebrated for it today. But the transport network still needs to be expanded. Mobility expert Mari Jüssi explains that many workers in particular have jobs further out and are dependent on a own car. "We must finally offer them suitable alternatives that they switch to public transport. Schoolchildren and older people already use the options, it is designed for them.“

So what is needed - and not just in Estonian cities: Safe, permanent routes for cyclists, person on foot and wheelchair users, both in summer and winter, as well as more public transport that benefits as many people as possible. Regardless of whether it is free - and, above all, fewer obstacles to travelling by car instead.

https://goodimpact.eu/recherche/was-bringt-der-kostenlose-nahverkehr-in-tallinn

With the help of the Tallinna Rattastrateegia 2018-2027 we transfer the road conditions from cyclists to the E-scooter:

The bicycle's share of mobility is low. There are generally no cycle paths on the road, no daily mass cycle traffic, therefore no parked bicycles. The basic needs of cyclists are a safe and convenient network of cycle paths and parking facilities.

Tallinna Rattastrateegia 2018-2027 is elaborated by Tõnis Savi, Raul Kalvo, Mari Jüssi and Marek Rannala

In Germany scooter riders are protected from traffic as they have to use cycle paths

tuul - the most durable and eco-friendly e-scooter in the world
First we had a closer look at the scooters and tested which steps we have to go through to drive.

how to ride tuul:

* unlock

find the tuul app on your phone
scan the QR-code on the scooter
bring your own helmet
start your ride with a smile

* enjoy

speed up with the throttle
slow down with the brake
use the bell on the handle
stay on bike lanes or sidewalks
follow the law

* park

park only in allowed zones
finish your ride on the app

https://tuul.xyz/blog/report-an-incorrectly-parked-scooter/

mobility behaviour
After that we decided to research about how citizens behave while moving around the city. In specific people who are excluded from tuuls service while traveling.

Over 90%

of all households with three or more people own at least one car.

Many families see this as the solution to the changing daily journeys caused by family growth: these are increasing, becoming more complex and therefore an organisational challenge. (1)

Parents tend to limit their children's independent radius of action due to fears of traffic accidents. Despite falling accident figures, it is an important reason for the high number of journeys parents make to bring or collect their children up to the age of ten. However, children only learn about their own road safety through practice. (2)

(1) Vgl. infas/DLR (2010): Mobilität in Deutschland 2008. Ergebnisbericht. Struktur-Aufkommen-Emissionen-Trends, S. 61
(2) Vgl. infas/DLR (2009): Generation Auto?, Folie 11. Die Anzahl der Begleitwege hat in den letzten 20Jahren deutlich zugenommen.

Beside safety there are way more other values that define the quality of a strong family.

High speeds,
restricted visibility and deficient infrastructure.

Despite the high level of car ownership, parents with children also like to travel on foot, by bike and by public transport.

With regard to walking and cycling, a safe infrastructure is considered particularly important. High speeds, restricted visibility due to parked vehicles, inadequate or missing road crossing aids and a deficient walking and cycling infrastructure are cited as impairments. (3)

(3) Vgl. VCD (2010): Mit Kindern unterwegs. Ergebnisse der VCD-Befragung

field research
Firstly we went in our field research for qualitative data, we conducted interviews with two mums on the street and two families online. We brainstormed questions, identified and ordered themes we wanted to address and divided roles. Here are some of the interesting insights:

From the learning of our interviews and research we focused on
the target group: young families with toddlers

We defined values, pain points, needs and desire:

design principles
To stay focused on what really matters to young families and their toddlers we spelled out design principles.

* connect the family
* make it enjoyable and interesting for the whole family
* provide the user a sense of safety and comfort

how might we?
By reframing the design challenge into our HMW - format, we gave us a perfect frame for creative thinking. It suggests solutions that are possible and offers us the chance to answer them in a variety of ways.

ideation phase
To boost our creativity we worked with different ideation methods for example the mash-up or crazy-eight. The first one brings odd or unexpected themes together to spark fresh ideas. The crazy eight is a brainstorming method in which each team member visualises eight possible solutions to spark a quantity of new ideas in a short time sequence.

idea: strengthen the bond of the family through a playful way while exploring the city.
We can tackle with our idea the value, needs and desires at once. Being outdoors in fresh air has a demonstrated de- stressing effect which everyone can benefit in the family. Combined with gameplay we can boost the sense of unity in a family and parents spent quality time with their children. While playing the games at different spots every family member has to be a part of it, with this setting we do not exclude one. To unlock every game on the map in the tuul app the family is using the scooters to drive to the next spot. With typical gamification like rewards, unlocking new games and many other we keep the motivation to go out and play again any other time.

Next to our idea we wrote down some criteria that we do want to follow:

As our project handles the future vision five years ahead we decided to implement a new technology into our idea: Augmented Reality‍
To justify the choice of AR, we see in the technology the possibilities to include seamlessly in the game without needing another physical toy. It blends visuals over the reality and add value to the scenery.

The list of new technologies grows every day. Robots, Augmented Reality, algorithms, and machine-learning to transform existing businesses and personal lives.

https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/articles/technological-progress-and-potential-future-risks/

adaption of the scooter
We adapted the scooter to fit to our target group. With our design concept we dealt with the pain points (distraction, safety) and the desire to spend quality time with the family. Therefore we created our design concept that includes a new scooter variation with an extra step for the toddler. Inclusion of a foldable helmet for the parent and the toddler, as well thinner handle parts for the toddler to grab on. This variation we presented to parents and included their feedback.

design concept
Within the design concept, we focussed on four key areas that we identified from our preliminary process. These include the main functions and measures we took to meet the needs and wishes of our target group.

* engagement of the whole family
* quality time outside
* feeling of safety
* integrated functions & interactions

future view
While looking into the future I see the change from buying a product to renting a product, so the concept of a sharing economy should be mentioned here. People will have more flexible schedules and desire the accessability of services at any time and when needed.

There are two challenges that I see arise when I think of developing our concept further, at the moment we expect the development of the AR technology to be fast. In our future scenario 2025 it will be affordable to add it to every helmet for the tuul scooter. Second one, for now we could not test if AR have any long term side effects, especially for small children.

In this project i kept overview, set up and managed the documentation of the process. Beside building together the concept out of the insights & ideas and get everything in one place.

team partner
Merike Liiva and Sandra Jõesaar‍

supervised by
Nesli Hazal Akbulut (Interaction Designer),
Mihkel-Emil Mikk (Industrial Designer)

strengthen the familybond

engage the family to spend time
together

With the help of augmented reality we created a design concept to engage parents to spend time outside with their children. We use the partner tuul as the solution to bring augmented reality games to life and connect within the family in a playful way by exploring the city.