Fragmented context
Useful information existed, but riders had to reconstruct it every time the medium changed.
BART · Independent wayfinding concept
BART made riders solve the same navigation problem at every handoff.
I studied the full rider journey, then designed one color-and-number identity that carries from trip planning to the station, train, and exit.
- Role
- Product designer + researcher
- Research
- 15+ rides across three weeks
- Validation
- 5 rider tests + 3 interviews
- Status
- Tested concept—not shipped
Research outcome
A testable system hypothesis, not a claimed transit result.
Color tells riders which line. Numbers tell them which stop.Project snapshot
A self-directed study of navigation under pressure.
One continuous journey
The design unit became the full trip—not a sign, a map, or a mobile screen in isolation.
A shared route identity
Route color plus stop number repeated at each decision point to replace recall with recognition.
Context · Every minute matters
A rider can be technically informed and still feel lost.
Navigation happens while trains approach, doors close, crowds move, and attention is divided. The job is not to show everything. It is to make the next decision obvious.
01
Which line?
02
Which direction?
03
How many stops?
04
Which exit?
Field research
I rode the system until the scavenger hunt became visible.
Across 15+ rides in three weeks, I photographed signs, timed decisions, and watched where riders hesitated. The pattern was not one broken sign. It was repeated loss of context.
Find the signal
Small signs competed with advertisements, architecture, and crowd movement.
Decode the network
A complete system map demanded too much attention for a time-sensitive choice.
Remember the name
Unfamiliar station names became a memory task once the rider boarded.
Start over at arrival
Exit guidance arrived late and disconnected from the rider’s destination.
How research changed the direction
Initial frame
Make the signs clearer.
Research frame
Preserve route context across the whole trip.
Improving one artifact would treat a local symptom. The next handoff would recreate the problem.
System research
Borrow the principle, not the appearance.
New York, Tokyo, and London showed the value of compact identifiers repeated across touchpoints. BART still needed a model shaped around its own network and rider context.
The call I made
Pair a fast visual cue with a compact memory cue.
Color creates immediate line recognition. A sequential number gives each stop a short, stable identifier. Names remain visible; the new code supplements rather than replaces them.
Blue line
12
One identity
at every handoff
at every handoff
Prioritization
Observations became three rider jobs and one coherent MVP.
Raw signals
Searching
Hesitation
Recall
Exit stress
Shared needs
01 Identify
02 Track
03 Exit
MVP
Trip planner
Station + platform
Onboard progress
Exit guidance
Final concept
One route identity. Four moments of confirmation.
Instead of asking riders to interpret the system again, every touchpoint confirms the same line and stop sequence while revealing only the information needed now.
Plan · Mobile
Begin with the same identity the station will repeat.
Apple Maps carries the line color and stop number into the physical journey, reducing the translation between phone and platform.
DecisionDo not invent a separate digital shorthand.
Concept test · Embarcadero Station
Test the mental model before polishing the system.
I used paper prototypes with five riders at Embarcadero, then conducted three follow-up interviews. The goal was comprehension—not whether the mockup looked modern.
Wait, that’s it? Blue line, stop 12?
Rider response reported in the original project
Evidence boundary
This is a promising qualitative signal from a small test—not proof of system-wide usability or impact.
Outcome + reflection
The result is a stronger hypothesis—and a clear next test.
One continuous wayfinding concept
Mobile, station, platform, onboard progress, and exits share the same route identity.
Recognition beat explanation
The first rider test suggested that color plus number could make the next action easier to repeat.
No shipped or ridership impact
BART did not commission or implement the concept. System ridership figures are context, not results.
Reflection
The project changed how I think about wayfinding: clarity does not come from making every artifact simpler. It comes from making the relationship between artifacts predictable.
More of the system
The route identity applied beyond the core journey.
Supporting explorations show how the same information model could reduce recall and make the final station-to-street transition easier to confirm.
