Ahmedabad Metro
અમદાવાદ મેટ્રો
अहमदाबाद मेट्रो
Project Overview
The Ahmedabad Metro aims to enhance public transportation in the city by addressing congestion and improving urban mobility. However, passengers face cognitive challenges when navigating metro stations due to complex layouts, unclear signage, and inefficient wayfinding systems. This project focuses on evaluating and redesigning the navigation experience to optimize cognitive load and improve accessibility for all passengers.
Problem:
Passengers using the Ahmedabad Metro encounter difficulties in wayfinding, leading to confusion, increased travel time, and cognitive overload. Inconsistent signage, lack of intuitive navigation cues, and poorly designed station layouts contribute to a suboptimal commuting experience.
My role:
UX designer leading the evaluation and redesign of IndiaMart's website.
Group Project - (Sanika Deshpande, Devanshi Pandya, Amaan Dola & Swadha Mahajan)
Goal:
To conduct a heuristic evaluation of the Ahmedabad Metro station navigation system and redesign it to improve wayfinding, reduce cognitive burden, and create a seamless and efficient transit experience for all passengers.
Responsibilities:
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Performed heuristic evaluation to assess existing usability and wayfinding challenges.
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Conducted user research to identify passenger pain points and navigation difficulties.
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Developed personas and user journey maps to guide design improvements.
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Proposed redesigned wayfinding solutions to enhance clarity and efficiency.
This project has been selected for research publication with Springer through the ACED Conference. Additionally, we presented our findings at IIM Mumbai in December 2023, showcasing our research and design interventions to an academic and professional audience.
The Ahmedabad Metro is a mass rapid transit system aimed at improving public transportation in the city of Ahmedabad. It's part of a larger initiative to address the city's growing traffic congestion and transportation needs.
Total number of metro stations - 31
Number of interchange stations - 1
Number of Elevated stations - 27
Number of underground stations - 4
Number of stations At-Grade- 0
Line 1 - EAST - WEST CORRIDOR ( 20.7 KM )
Thaltej Gam to Vastral Gam
Line 2 - NORTH - SOUTH CORRIDOR ( 18.5 KM )
APMC to Motera Stadium
HTA (Hierarchical Task Analysis)
User Experience Mapping
Cognitive Overload - At 2 Key Areas
Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) machine
Platform
Navigation Difficulties
AFC Entry Gate
Overloaded Graphics
AFC Exit Gate
Confusing scanning and dropping system
Existing Navigation System
People over there always needed guidance for wayfinding.
No clear signage for way of platform 2
No clear signage for Exit
No clear signage for way of platform 1
AFC (Automatic Fare Collection) GATE
The Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) System is an essential station infrastructure comprising automatic gate machines, ticket vending machines, and ticket validation systems to streamline passenger entry, ticketing, and fare processing.
Excessive graphics at the entry gate.
Issue with scanning and dropping tokens at the exit gate.
User Challenges - observed in Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) machine.
Entry gate
Exit gate
Existing Features ( Entry Gate )
Lack of proper placement of scanning.
Confusion due to cluttered graphics
Layout of the graphics is to cluttered that create a cognitive load on the user that, where to scan the token.
Existing Features ( Exit Gate )
Lack of proper placement of scanning.
Confusing scanning and dropping system.
Confusing placement of scanning and dropping, takes excess of time during the process
Purposed AFC Gate
Entry Gate
Exit Gate
Outcomes
A cognitive ergonomics evaluation of the Ahmedabad Metro Station revealed key navigation challenges impacting wayfinding, signage clarity, and passenger cognitive load. By addressing these issues, we developed a more intuitive navigation system with improved directional cues, optimized information placement, and user-friendly wayfinding strategies. These enhancements contributed to a more seamless and stress-free commuting experience.
Takeaways
Impacts
Passengers found the enhanced signage and wayfinding improvements significantly beneficial in navigating the station efficiently. The optimized system reduced cognitive overload, improved accessibility, and streamlined movement within the metro environment.
