Kulp means 'handle' in Turkish. In this project, we aim to provide an interactive handle that is sturdy and flexible at the same time. After selecting destinations on the interface of the handle, users will be notified by haptic feedbacks upon arrival. 

We did literature reviews and research on the bus handles on market. 

After research on paper, we decided to move on the field and find out the user needs. So we got on buses and trains to observe how people grab or grip the current handles.

From the field research, some valuable insights are collected. For instance, the current handles are unstable, and people would hold the horizontal pole rather than the handle itself. 

We arranged the user's needs in an order of priority. The top one is distractions. People always focus on their digital devices and thus miss their stops. Besides, once the emergency or unexpected delay happens, people will not know what's going on if they're wearing headphones and could not hear the operator.

We got insights from a carabiner, which can be easily moving around. Our design idea is to create a bus handle that works like a carabiner. Excepting the reminder for the destination, it can be taken off from the horizontal pole and attached to the vertical pole. So that people can hang their bags and backpacks to the pole.

We explored different form factors on paper.

Using playdoh and other materials we have, we tried to find out a better form.

We used pink foam to make minimal viable products for further user testing. 

We did user testing with 3 peers in the School of Industrial design and 3 passengers we found on the buses. They confirmed the value of the vibration feature and how the handles work. On the other side, they were concerned about whether the handles are stable enough.

According to what we gained from users, we did some changes to our prototype. It's now more stable on the moving vehicle because it works like a clamp.

Users will first attach the handle to the pole, the clips on handle will clamp the pole. Users need to twist the handle to lock it so that the handle will not move on handle. 

For the vertical pole, it works the same way. Users can also bend the handle so that they can hang things to it.

i. Easy selection within 3 steps.

ii. Lightened bar on both sides to notify users even if they’re not focusing on the screen or if they’re using it in different postures.

Long buzz for notifying the arrival of                              Short, urgent buzz for emergencies

destination.                                                                     and unexpected situations.

It's a one month project from Grad Studio ID 6212 for 2020 spring semester at Georgia Institute of Technology. Further research on stakeholders will be needed and there're still some unexplored potentials regards the way of interaction. 

This project provides a unique perspective to look at future public transportation. The user research is rounded and offers a firm based. For me, the feedback from user testing are the most valuable part because it pushes me forward and keeps thinking about user-centered design.

Team member: Nektar Ege Altintoprak, M.S. in HCI

                         Shihui Ruan,  M.S. in HCI

                         Cheyenne Raker, MID

Professor: Wei Wang