Routes Reimagined: Launch

Read your Challenge Statement and watch your Challenge Champion’s Set the Stage video. Be sure you have a clear understanding of the problem.

Then do some research to identify and understand the users – the people or organizations who need a good solution to this problem. What do users need in a solution? Why? What’s wrong with the solutions they have now?

Setting the Stage with Your Challenge Champion

Challenge Champion Alison DeGraff Ollivierre explains your Challenge: Routes Reimagined.

Challenge Scenario

Imagine a friend is visiting your community for the first time and they ask you for directions. What would you tell them? Would you tell them the most scenic route or the route with the least busy streets? Or, would you tell them a route that shows them some of what makes your community great? What would make the route enjoyable or meaningful for your friend?

When we plan out how to get somewhere or help someone with directions, we might consult a navigation app or a map, ask someone, or just start exploring. Unfortunately, many navigation apps prioritize the fastest routes, many maps leave out a community’s hidden gems, few people agree when it comes to directions, and exploring takes a lot of time. Depending on the person and the situation, there are many different criteria one might consider when mapping out a journey.

What if there were a navigation app that let people plan journeys based on criteria that they care about? By identifying the needs, interests, and values of the people who will use a navigation app, designers can find creative ways to help people get where they need to go, find joy in their journey, and still arrive on time.

 

Challenge Statement

Navigation apps are useful for all kinds of trips, whether walking to meet up with a friend, skateboarding to school, or even going on a scenic hike. Your challenge is to design a navigation app that allows users to map out routes based on criteria they value for their trip. 

 

Your solution should include:

• Route criteria. Describe the criteria that users can choose from to customize their route.

• A prototype. Using examples from your community, show how your app would map out routes and automatically calculate the important information for a trip. Show multiple routes users could choose from based on the different criteria your app offers.

• Trip information. For the routes in your prototype, show how your app will automatically calculate all relevant trip information, including:
  • Estimated travel time for the full trip and each leg of the trip, if relevant; 
  • Estimated time of arrival;
  • Distance of the trip.

Click here to view the Routes Reimagined Challenge Statement PDF

Meet the Challenge Champion

Challenge Champion Alison DeGraff Ollivierre explains how maps are made.

Think About It

What ideas do you have for your solution?

What information do you need to create a viable solution for your target consumers?