Streamlining accessible parking space usage
Government of Ontario / Fall 2024 - Spring 2025
Problem
Ontario’s accessible parking permit (APP) program struggles with fraudulent permits that put strains on the program and take parking spots away from those that need them. How might we redesign a modern ‘best in class’ suite of end-to-end APP services?
Approach
We took a comprehensive service design approach in our research to understand the intersecting issues of an aging user base, low tech literacy, fraud, and outdated back office processes.
Project Snapshot
Team
3 Designers
2 Product Managers/Owners
1 Business Analyst
Timeline
6 months
Tools
Miro
Figma
Zoom
Alchemer
Constraints
Lack of direct access to users for recruitment
Multiple versions of site available for testing
View the live redesigned site
Workshopping and Research Plan
Workshop facilitation
Our team had free range in terms of what a redesigned APP program could look like. But to target efforts strategically, we tapped into a vast knowledge base of SMEs. I and the Experience Design Lead co-facilitated a workshop engaging 16 stakeholders where we brainstormed research goals, scope, participant outreach methods, and considered challenges + opportunities.
Research Questions and Methods
After mapping discussion points in the workshop to various users and actors involved in the wider APP ecosystem, we refined our strategy in a user research plan document. Our research questions concerned user perceptions and experiences, experiences of operational staff and external actors in supporting the program, and how well existing policy infrastructure supports the program.
Contextual Inquiry (AKA field trips!)
ServiceOntario
We observed front-counter customer service reps (CSRs) performing APP transactions at a ServiceOntario centre to understand how they interact with front and back-end processes, how they interact with customers, and what challenges they experience in their workflow.
Parking enforcement
We joined City of Toronto enforcement staff on an enforcement round to observe how fraudulent permits are detected and how officers communicate with the APP office.
Kingston back office
Our most extensive field trip was to the APP office in Kingston, where we learned about the permit fulfillment process, how permits are mailed to applicants, and how customer service concerns are resolved.
Interviews and Usability Testing
Recruitment
Eventually our team gained access to an email list of APP holders, but before this, we thought of creative recruitment methods such as recruitment letters inserted with monthly permit renewal reminder letters. For regulated health practitioners (who sign off on APP application forms), we faxed recruitment letters to heighten chances of reaching this especially busy user base.
Testing artifacts
We interviewed and tested users with:
Different permit types (e.g. temporary vs. permanent)
Different application channels (e.g. in-person vs. online vs. by mail)
Different transactions (e.g. renew vs. replace vs. return)
We ran usability tests that included unique combinations of these flows, both using a staging site that replicated the current application site and using a Figma prototype of early redesign iterations. In addition, we tested the physical application form with regulated health practitioners, who sign off on it to certify a participants’ eligibility.
Turnout
In total, we conducted combined interviews/usability tests with 14 APP users and with 4 regulated health professionals. I facilitated 7 60-minute sessions and 2 30-minute sessions.
Analysis
Methodology
Our first step in analysis was to meet with stakeholders that attended and observed research sessions to discuss first-blush impressions. This helped validate which themes or individual findings were most salient vs. less salient. We kept these impressions in mind when proceeding to affinity mapping findings. My time with the team unfortunately came to an end in the middle of analysis, he team has since gone on to refine themes that emerged from affinity mapping via thematic analysis, and even redesigned application flows accordingly.
Findings
As the redesign of the APP program is still underway, research findings won’t be detailed here. Please reach out to learn more!
My takeaways
Contextual inquiry was invaluable in understanding the nuanced challenges that APP staff and other actors experienced - challenges that likely wouldn’t have always been recalled in the removed setting of an online zoom interview. In addition to enhancing our understanding, site visits also built rapport with these important stakeholders and even inspired elements of co-design throughout the project by meeting actors where they are and putting ourselves in their shoes.
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