Lana Pak

A way-finding app for pedestrians in Westwood Village that tackles sidewalk congestion through community and city participation, where users can report new hazards, view current hazards, or clear outdated hazards.

Westwood Village is located immediately south of UCLA and is a hub for scooter, bike, bus, and car travel. The problem with mobility in Westwood is many students facing congestion and obstructions during their commute that ultimately make them late for their commitments and compromise their safety.

During our first rounds of on-site observations and interviews, we discovered that due to this many transportation options, Westwood Village tends to be heavily congested with several obstacles that students face during their sidewalk commute. They’re plagued with damaged sidewalks, construction blockage, overcrowding, and risk-taking.

With these hazards creating difficulty for walkers, we created Get 2 Steppin, which is designed for frequent pedestrians of Westwood Village to get to their destination in a quick and timely manner. By reporting new hazards, viewing current hazards, clearing out-dated hazards, as well as keeping the hazard information up to date with the city, pedestrians of Westwood will have a more pleasant walking experience.

For this project, the design brief was to create a train case (travel makeup bag) that allows for multiple uses, such as storing beauty products at home and keeping them organized while traveling. The train case should also emphasize sustainability and be a gift-with-purchase to build social community engagement. The project was an academic project in collaboration with MaCher.

The problem addressed in this project was the lack of a versatile beauty train cases that could accommodate the needs of users for both at-home product storage and travel organization. The challenge was to design a sustainable solution that catered to these dual needs. Additionally, creating a digital companion to enhance user organization and product tracking was a complex task.

Users struggled with organizing and storing their beauty products, resorting to makeshift solutions like sandwich bags to keep items clean. Sensitivity and fragility of certain beauty products made them prone to damage and spillage, highlighting the need for better protection. Makeup enthusiasts preferred lightweight and well-organized travel cases, but most available options did not fully meet their requirements

PHYSICAL: The proposed solution involved the creation of a modular beauty train case that addresses the needs of short travel, daily product use, and at-home storage. The design incorporated compartments and pockets of various sizes to accommodate different beauty products. Additional features included extra padding to protect delicate items, specific compartments for brushes, and a durable yet lightweight material. This design catered to the unique demands of makeup enthusiasts, offering both functionality and sustainability. DIGITAL: The digital component, a companion app for the train case, was designed to assist users in staying organized, keeping track of their products, and discovering new suggestions based on their preferences. It served as a comprehensive tool to enhance the overall beauty product management experience.