370 Compete

As a a weekly assignment for UX Design, we were given the prompt of designing a solution that would improve the stairwell experience of students in my building. The primary problems that were identified as a group, through surveys and discussions, were:

1. Difficulty in finding the stairs (through a weird hallway and plain door)
2. Lack of interest in stairway (plain white walls)
3. Lack of knowledge of the stairways' existence

I decided to solve these problems with a novel competition system, were the different departments and students in the building can compete in stair climbing challenges for prizes. It encourages students to increase their usage of the building’s stairs through both highlighting the intrinsic satisfaction of personal progress and creating an extrinsic spirit of competition between students/professors/departments. It provides encouragement right when the student needs it to make a decision to use the stairs. First is the rankings and arrows first projected in the lobby/on the floor to consciously or subconsciously remind the student of the existence of the stairs and the program. Second is the rankings again but more in-your-face as they enter the stairs to push them forward to their goal. Third is a sense of accomplishment at the end through visual numerical update animations/cues that confirm that your contribution was tallied and put a more positive spin on the experience when contemplating whether to take the stairs the next time. There would be weekly/monthly prizes given out to the departments and students who ‘won’ the competition, possibly contributing to extrinsic social pressure.