Subway Design Software for Transportation Engineers

Objective

Create a Subway Layout Software that allows transportation engineers to design subway layouts that connect high-traffic zones in peak hours.

The Subway Layout Software should assists Transportation Engineers in completing their tasks. Given the nature of the user group, I made the following assumptions:

• Map and traffic datasets are available
• User is proficient in understanding visualizations

Defining Scope

Based on the user's goal, I identified three main areas of focus - Traffic Analysis, Designing Layout and Impact Analysis. The solution should enable users to visualize and analyze map and traffic data, gather insights and create a subway layouts using design tools. The solution should allow the user understand impact of new layout and make iterative changes. Leveraging AI, software can recommend layouts but for the purposes of this project, this has been left out of the scope.

Research

To assist transportation engineers analyze traffic data, the design should support visualization of traffic. I conducted a secondary research on various data visualization techniques . I also conducted desk research to understand existing problems in designing subway layouts and familiarized myself with current-day layout designs.

Design Implications

Design should enable the user to

• Visualize map and traffic datasets
• Interact with the Visualizations and datasets
• Create subway layouts using lines, stops and junctions
• Compare and contrast different designs

Design

Initial Sketches

With a strong understanding of the task the user wishes to accomplish, I designed a few low-fidelity mockups to bring my idea to life.

Data Visualization Techniques

I defined the following visualizations that would help the user gain insights from traffic datasets.

Interactive Wireframes

After getting feedback on the initial sketches, I designed the wireframes that user can click through.

Prototype

Design Mockup

After adding a few more details and functionalities, I designed the below visual mockup to demonstrate the design of the software application.

Highlight of Key Features

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  Layering visualizations

  User can change visualization complexity by applying or removing data layers that best assist them in inferring insights and making decisions.

• Grouping Lines and Stops

  Providing hierarchical grouping of lines and stops enables user to easily identify and edit design elements and make design iterations.
  
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  Vis Assistance (Create Mode)

  Providing dynamic visualizations such as donut, radial and chord charts allows user to focus on region of interest and leaves the guess work out of the design decisions.

• Compare Design Layouts

  Compare layouts and analyze impact on high-traffic zones, allowing user to select the best layout design.
  

Takeaway

Overall, I enjoyed taking on this design activity. Coming up with a design solution for a user group that you do not have direct access to and their profession that you do not know much about was challenging. However, utilizing other resources to conduct research and looking at other tools for inspiration, I was able to design solution that meets the user requirement. Designing from a data visualization perspective allowed me to push past my limits and eventually, also added value to the project.