Southern Cross Station
Collage of images. Black station map with white text, colourful map of Southern Cross Station, three images of train platform signage with white text on dark backgrounds.
The Project
We started straight away at General Assembly; project one began on day one. Our instructors, Damir and Nigel, took us to Southern Cross station to identify commuter pain points by performing a contextual inquiry at the station.
We returned to GA after some time at the station and performed our first affinity mapping exercise. Many of my peers focused on the accessibility of the Myki top-up system (which I agree desperately needs improvement!) or train scheduling signage.
Some of my recent international experiences had me considering Southern Cross from a different perspective.
Left: Text reading "The Problem: Point of entry for international travelers. Poor signage, lack of non-English signage" Below "The Solution: In-Station terminals: Does not require the users to have a smartphone or cell service. Helpful in determining users' location, as each is a fixed point" Right: Two colour images of existing Station signage.
I immediately realized that none of the station's signage was in a language other than English. Having travelled through many transit ports in other countries, I have been fortunate, as an English speaker, to find some manner of signage that I can read usually.
However, what about non-English speaking visitors in our city? Due to the presence of the SkyBus, Southern Cross is often an immediate point of entry for international travelers.
Left: "Goals: Help non-English speaking tourists find: information about basic amenities, transport options in their native languages. Include primary recognised language of origin countries of most Victoria visitors" Left: a table with black text detailing from which countries Victoria receives its most international visitors
Researching the Message and the Medium
I remembered my first interaction at Southern Cross as a foreign traveller. I was alone and so very lost. I was dragging behind me a giant suitcase. I knew I need to get on a #11 tram (per a friend’s instructions), and I knew I needed something called a Myki—but I had no idea where to access either.
I also thought about what I felt compelled to post on Facebook when I finally landed at Southern Cross after making The Big Move to Australia: “I made it. Someone give me a flat white STAT.”
Transport. Tickets. Coffee.
Additionally, I felt that the medium of conveying this message would need to be strongly considered. Would a mobile app suffice? Hardly. It would be doubtful that international travellers would be downloading an app before the station or that a Melbourne-specific app would be included in their various app stores.
A 6 panel cartoon-style storyboard detailing a potential user story of an international traveler trying to navigate station signage
Many international travellers can obtain Australian SIM cards at the airport, but this presumes that all international visitors own smartphones and that all those smartphones are unlocked. Travellers who do not have this option either have to rely on international data plans or Wi-Fi zones. At the time of our visit, Southern Cross Station did not provide Wi-Fi to its guests.
Taking all of this into account, it became apparent that in-station terminals would be the best solution. They would help visitors locate themselves within the Southern Cross complex and aid them in locating valuable services. I went out to some local shopping complexes to see if any of them use a similar system, and many do. Performing some comparative heuristic analysis on these terminals helped me form the basis for my design.
Three panels of hand-drawn paper prototypes. Left to right: a screen with the word "welcome" written in 7 different languages; a screen with a station map and 7 different options for services; a final panel with a station map showing where food can be purchased at the station.
Paper Prototyping
Iteration one (and 1.1 and 1.2) of the design process involved paper prototyping and user testing with my peers. It made a great deal of sense to me to design the project in a language non-native to myself and my peers, so that we could develop some empathy for our international visitors—though Spanish would not be included, based on the TRA research, it is the second most spoken language in the world (and happens to be the only other language I speak well), which is why it was chosen.
Four panels of hand-drawn paper prototypes. Left to right: a screen with the word "welcome" written in 7 different languages; a screen with a station map and 7 different options for services; the third panel with a station map showing where food can be purchased at the station; final panel shows where coffee can be purchased.
User Testing and Feedback
I gave my users a cheat sheet of Spanish vocabulary and set them on a mission to find coffee in the station. I was incredibly pleased when 3/3 testers reported that the interface was “very clear” “very easy to understand—even in Spanish!” and generally expressed only minor concerns about presenting some of the information. Iteration on these details helped to produce the final design.
Four panels of digital mock-ups of the prototype. Dark background with white text, and colour-coded images. Left to right: a screen with the word "welcome" written in 7 different languages; a screen with a station map and 7 different options for services; the third panel with a station map showing where food can be purchased at the station; final panel shows where coffee can be purchased.