Project Initiation

Studio V kicked off on the morning of the 29th of February, with the class meeting our lecturers Oliver Neuland and Rob Mayo (lecturer/AT Transport client and liason).

The six week project brief in short is to enhance the user experience of the Chinese precinct Domnion Road - a six kilometre stretch of busy streets, traffic and shops which has a (in)famous reputation among Auckland locals. In particular the project aims to improve multi modal travel at night time, with the use of Human Centered Design and the Design Thinking Toolbox.

This blog category "Studio V Auckland Transport" acts as my live workbook as this project progresses.

After the brief introduction the class seperated into small groups and used "post it" notes to gather our very raw initial thoughts around the idea of travelling at night on Dominion Road. I could only speculate on rumours and others stories as I have never visited. But looking at the other's input I started to build a vague picture of our focus location as a culturally diverse and history rich area - full of light, noise and activity. Equally there was concerns of "how do I get there and back?", instant dismissals of bike travel due to danger, and a lack of intuitive direction and information for anyone wanting to visit Dominion Road.

Furthermore as a group we gathered a collection of "googled" material found online regarding anything about Dominion Road, Auckland Transport, Future Transport Plans, and any content relevant to the brief or character of Dominion Road. Again this helped to build my understanding of Dominion Road. Some research articles provided content like local plays depicting the rich history and "tales" of the legendary road, while most information revolved around AT Transport's new light rail plans to connect the location to the inner city and airport.

We also had a quick look at Tokyo's Rail system out of curiosity. It's success seemed to work upon efficient government planning and resource allocation - resulting in shorter lines and departure gaps between trains.