Taiwan Design Research Institute
In 2020, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) proposed the “Ten-Year Blue Highway Development Plan”, aiming to build a world-class blue highway from five major directions: “navigation”, “port”, “ship”, “tourism” and ” merchandise”.
The short-term plan is the “Year of Island Jumping Tourism” in 2023, which includes the completion of port facilities on the outlying islands and the construction of two major new outlying island passenger and freight vessels: the New Taiwan-Peng and New Taiwan-Ma.
Maritime Port Bureau. MOTC commissioned the planning and management of the short-term project to the TDRI. Therefore, I was fortunate to be able to participate in the design research, planning and validation of this project. I was mainly involved in two of the projects:
Establishment of the waiting space pattern
Through the study, a human-centered terminal waiting space is established based on service design for reference and application at all terminals in Taiwan.
Output Measurement: Spatial and Indicator System Manual
In order to replicate and model the successful design and construction model, and to consider the subsequent maintenance management, a “system manual” needs to be produced. I assisted in the following aspects:
- Desktop Research: Collected and analyzed domestic and international design standards, regulations, and cases.
- Field Research: Design Verification and Testing
- Prototype testing
- Stakeholder Interviews
- Design Research
- Indicator portfolio and specification research
- Design prototype testing
- Participated in tripartite meetings: Participated in design meetings with the official director, the designer team and the head of the institute at the Maritime Port Bureau. office. Assisted in conducting and documenting meetings.
Marketing Promotion
Through video and media marketing to create an impact and stimulate consumer desire from the consumer’s point of view, by using user-friendly language.
I participated in discussions and communication with marketing integration companies to propose marketing strategies, including:
- Proposal of video script adjustment
- Study Report of exposure channel and budget allocation
Key Learning and Takeaways
Public service should be close to the people. Beauty and being understood are both essential.
Based on the pursuit of aesthetics, the Maritime Port Bureau Diredtor approached TDRI to assist in the design planning of corporate identity and space design for the site. However, when reviewing the design, in addition to the budget, he will also put himself in the public’s shoes and ask for changes to the designers’ proposals. For example, “The dark design is very textured, but the restaurant is for family gatherings, so the original design is brighter and warmer, which is more suitable.”
When I participated in the design decision-making meetings with the head of the Maritime Port Bureau, I was able to see the amazing efficiency of his decision-making. With the general direction of the goal in mind, the design requirements and budget were quickly coordinated. When there is a conflict, he can come up with a consensus solution that is acceptable to all parties.
External experts are not for display, let them make a practical difference.
In working with Mentor, I have come to understand the uniqueness of being the PM in third party. She is a person who strives for perfection in details. In order to give the best user experience, she will spare time and effort to find out the arguments and user perspectives that can convince the designers.
When it comes to communication difficulties with the designer, in addition to being tough, one can invite experts and scholars invited to provide professional advice and guidance from an authoritative point of view.
Think one step further for users to make public services better.
For the pursuit of design details, take the example of the indicator design I assisted: how to align the icon and text as the main elements when combined? How should the interval be calculated? How to distinguish between the groups … There are a lot of details hidden in a small pattern. We have tried and verified many times to find the combination that users can see clearly at first glance, fighting for that intuitive 0.01 second.
The design of public services involves regulations, public opinion, and funding constraints. The cross-team, cross-regional, and cross-country design and construction process makes it very difficult to manage. Under such conditions, she insisted on making every detail thorough, and with such details, she built up the three-year plan to a high level.
