UnternehmerTUM x BMW
2024
Kerb Parking: Smart Parking Pilot for Munich aiming to reduce congestion by 30%
Designing an end-to-end mobile experience in collaboration with BMW and UnternehmerTUM to incentivize dynamic parking pricing, reduce urban traffic congestion, and reward eco-friendly driving behavior.
Overview
Rethinking Urban Mobility Beyond the Vehicle
Explored improved driver experiences beyond the car, focusing on easing the pain of finding on-street parking in Munich. As the sole Interaction Designer on a multidisciplinary team, I led the design, testing, and concept validation of 'Kerb' - a solution later used by BMW’s Sustainability Department to pitch dynamic pricing to the Munich City Council.
The Impact
Validated through 60+ usability tests and 15+ rapid iterations to create a friction-less parking discovery platform. The core system framework was adopted by BMW to propose dynamic pricing aimed at reducing city-wide traffic congestion by up to 30%.
Problem
The 20-Minute Parking Search and Urban Gridlock
Despite world-class public transit, street congestion in Munich kept climbing. Finding a spot took up to 20 minutes, with studies showing that a staggering 30% of street traffic consisted of cars simply hunting for parking
20 Mins
Time required to find parking in Munich
30%
Cars on the street that are looking for a parking spot
BMW's Research Finding
BMW's Sustainability Department states that introducing 'Dynamic Parking Pricing' will reduce congestion by rewarding green behavior.
Project Scope
Design a dynamic parking experience that incentivizes optimal space utilization through variable pricing based on real-time availability and vehicle dimensions
Research
Uncovering Real Driver Behaviors and Preferences
We knew that successfully launching dynamic pricing depended on solving broader, concurrent user needs. To capture local insights before writing a line of code, we interviewed 30+ drivers and deployed a Wizard of Oz prototype via a Telegram parking info bot.
Key Finding
Drivers prefer certainty of finding a parking spot over proximity to their destination
Ideation & Iterations
Ran 15+ rapid iterations and 60+ usability tests to perfect the user journey
Key features evolved through prototyping, including a Parking Availability Index for informed decision-making, an intuitive cost slider visualizing how vehicle size affects price, pay-by-the-minute metering, and a live lock-screen widget for active session tracking
Design
The Solution in Action: Designed for Trust and Simplicity
The final design delivered a seamless onboarding flow, a transparent dynamic pricing model, real-time availability indexing, and a scalable design system built to cross-pollinate easily onto in-car HMI displays
The Parking Availability Index helps drivers make an informed decision when selecting a parking spot
Transparency in the pricing structure helps build trust among all city residents
Drivers are charged only for the actual time parked, instead of per parking session
Who doesn't like a quick, easy and seamless on-boarding process?
Creation of a comprehensive design system will enable the solution to scale cross platform and into vehicle HMIs
Kerb x Mini Cooper
Impact
From a Digital Prototype to Municipal Policy Proposal
Business Impact: The project successfully transitioned to BMW’s Sustainability Department, where it was presented to the Munich City Council as a blueprint for reducing traffic congestion by 30% through dynamic pricing.
Future Scoping
Navigation capabilities and integration with public transport are the way forward
Want to know the messy part? (How we pivoted our initial assumptions after the Wizard of Oz test, or handled conflicting stakeholder priorities between BMW and municipal goals?) Let's chat!
hiremath.rishikesh@gmail.com
