Introduction:

When was the last time you went to a Broadway musical? Or a concert? How many of you waited in line to use the restroom. Did you wait a half hour? More?! Did you miss part of the show while you watched the men walk in and out of their restroom in under a minute? Did it make you angry? Frustrated? Feel that the world is still keeping us ladies down by forcing us to wait in line for restrooms when we could be getting a great glass of wine? If we do surgery with tiny cameras, surely there’s a technological solve for this problem too.

Problem Statement:

I believe that dirty restrooms with long lines are perpetually a problem for women at events such as musicals, concerts and plays.

I believe there is a way we can help the problem significantly with just a little bit of technology.

Hypothesis:

If I can create a system to streamline the way the women’s restrooms are used, then I can reduce the wait time for women and provide a service to both the venue and the women attending the event.

User Research

I interviewed five women from the ages of 29 to 68.

I asked them questions like:

Tell me generally about experiences you’ve had using a restroom at a venue or public space where there are a lot of people.

Do you feel like it’s generally a positive experience, a negative experience, or is each experience generally unique?

Can you think of any stand-out positive experiences using the women’s restroom. Why? Is there something from this experience you think we could apply to other restrooms?

Can you think of any stand-out negative experiences using the women’s restroom? Why?

Have you ever used a restroom as a person needing extra time or space (ie- children, luggage, injury, etc.) how did you/do you deal with this situation? What particular things are helpful in this situation?

Here’s what I found out:

“Sometimes the hold up is that the space is not well utilized, users cannot get in and out of stalls, use sinks or exit the bathroom quickly due to overcrowding/other users blocking entry/exits”

“It’s very difficult to use the restroom with children or a baby”

“People use the handicap stall to move the line along, but then for the person who needs it, it isn’t available.”

“I would love to be able to watch the show/performance while I’m in line!”

“I would also be happy if I could get a drink while I’m in line!”

“I often stand in line for the bathroom because it’s so long and I assume I’ll have to go by the time I get to the top of it”

“There should be a better way of alerting when stalls are open and when stalls are needing attention, this would help speed things along”

Competitive Analysis

I started my competitive analysis by examining what kind of restroom apps were already out there. I only found two other apps that are currently addressing restrooms, these apps are crowd sourced and simply show the location of public restrooms and their accessibility information. I created a competitive analysis comparing these apps to GottaGo:

It became clear that a better analysis would be to compare my idea to other applications and website which allow you to reserve something, such as OpenTable, Uber, Lyft, Hotel Tonight, AirBnB or the Disney World app.

User Personas

Prioritizing Features

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

After mapping out features on the 2x2 matrix, it became clear that the features to focus on are:

Booking: Allows users to book their time in the restroom for now or later. Allow these users to book using their phones or via a ticketing system.

Maintenance: allow users to easily alert a GottaGo attendant when their stall needs attendance. This will help to speed along the process and ensure that all stalls are in service.

Financing: GottaGo would either be offered as

Option 1) a paid service, directly to the consumers. For a small usage fee (approx. $1-2) or yearly subscription (approx. $15) they can use this service

Option 2) This service is paid for by the venue as a benefit for the patrons of that venue.

For either option:

GottaGo would maintain the restrooms they enable and provide at least two staffing attendants per restroom during an event to keep the lines flowing. One staffing attendant would check people in and out. The second staff member would ensure all restrooms have what they need and facilities remain clean and orderly.

User Flows

Initially I made one user flow for my whole app, as shown below:

After presenting my project in-the-works to my classmates, it became clear that I need to elaborate to answer some questions about how exactly this all would work- particularly once the user was entering the restroom. I decided to illustrate this portion of the flow (more like a storyboard) so that I could give a clear picture of this app in the works!

Wireframing

I started my wireframing process with two pens and some graph paper.

An early wireframe, created using Adobe XD:

Feedback From Initial Wireframes:

I created a clickable wireframe to test the usability of my app/service to see how intuitive the service was.

Overall, the flow seemed to be pretty intuitive, but users tended to have stronger feelings about two parts of the application:

1- the alert system when you’re using the restroom.

My users didn’t understand that the buttons they were looking at were supposed to be used while they were using the restroom, they thought it was some sort of feedback for after they had gone and wanted to alert the attendant that their stall needed something. It was clear that I needed some short phrase to better explain what that menu was for.

2- the social media sharing at the end of the application

I had users both love and hate this part of the app. My intention in adding this portion of the application was to add an element of fun to the app and also give the app some visibility to new users; an opportunity for users to share if they enjoyed this service.

After discussing a little deeper with one user, I decided a better route would be if at the end of the app, you got to download a set of cute emojis, small versions of the simple icons and visuals from the app. Ideally, the emojis might be a way of sharing between users and alerting new users about this app, in a tasteful and fun way.