About
Team SafeD took part in the 2017 Design for San Diego (D4SD) Civic Design Challenge on Mobility. We focused on improving pedestrian and biker safety in popular nightlife areas of San Diego through targeting ridesharing services.
Challenge: How do we create a San Diego where we all move freely?
We discovered the Fatal 15, the deadliest intersections of San Diego, and realized that a solid third of these were in popular nightlife areas. As we gathered information through observations, interviews, and secondary research, we pinpointed several issues, but none as serious as the one caused by ridesharing.
Rideshare vehicles stop unexpectedly to drop off their intoxicated passengers, who then proceed to jaywalk enthusiastically to their nightly destinations.
IT ALL STARTED WHEN...
Fieldwork
We conducted interviews with stakeholders: police officers, ridershare drivers, and employees of nightlife businesses.
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Street infrastructure was unreliable
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Pedestrian crossings cut down on accidents, but worked inconsistently
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Nightlife citations were largely ineffective
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Rideshares created safety hazards by blocking traffic & emergency service pathways
We visited Pacific Beach and downtown San Diego to conduct field studies on nightlife activities.
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Average of 20 jaywalkers per 5 minutes (over the duration of an hour)
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Most exited rideshares (stopped illegally in the street)
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Regular police patrols
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On test drives, we experienced jaywalkers passing within inches of us, dangerous inebriated behavior in intersections, and a blackout.
STATS
INTERVIEWS
OBSERVATIONS
How can we improve visibility and traffic awareness for pedestrians and motorists in bustling nighttime areas of San Diego?
Our Solutions
Although we did not make it into the finals for D4SD, we placed 3rd in the overall scoring.
APPLICATION NOTIFICATIONS
Simple and inexpensive, these audio and/or push notifications would occur shortly before rideshare vehicles reached their destination. Building on existing infrastructure, we hoped to induce mindfulness about safety in passengers.
LOADING ZONES
Parking by day, loading by night. These zones would be enforced by existing police patrols and provide a safe place for vehicles to pull over without hindering the flow of traffic. They would be lit with LED weight/motion-sensors that would change color based on the state of occupancy.
THE VISILITE
An attachable and inexpensive device combining a reflector and light projector. This would increase visibility of opening car doors and exiting passengers.
Testing & Refining
What's Next
In the months ahead, Team SafeD plans to conduct further field studies, experiments, and user research in order to gain the insights necessary to drive our solutions forward. We will be working with the mentorship of the Design Lab and Prototyping Lab to move our solution forward. We plan to conduct user testing and interviews, establish a solid business plan, and launch our product into the market.
Our Solution
We created a three-pronged system targeting different areas of the ridesharing issue, both social and infrastructural, to maximize the mobility and generalizability of our solution..
Michael Meyer
Don Norman
Steven Dow
"Try selling it to Uber or Lyft to incentivize rideshare services and promote safety for San Diego."
"I love it! the simplicity of your idea and potential impact it has can really make a difference."
"Design meets science. Excellent job, this is the essence of design."
After our field experiment, we consulted several design professionals for feedback and discover new avenues to explore.