Soren Hamby 4 min read

Accessibility

Waymo: Inclusive Wayfinding Research

Research and design work supporting Waymo's Inclusive Design Challenge submission — testing wayfinding concepts with blind and low-vision riders across two rounds of research, contributing to Waymo's 2022 DoT Inclusive Design Award.

A white Waymo self-driving vehicle at a downtown San Francisco curb.
Client
Waymo (via Jack Strategy)
Timeline
2021-2022
Services
Service Design · Accessibility · UX Research · Strategy
Link
Waymo Accessibility Work Recognized by USDOT

The Challenge

Getting to and boarding a self-driving car adds real friction for blind and low-vision riders who can't just look for a driver waving them over: Waymo's own service data showed 31.5% of rider pick-up journeys required walking more than 25 meters, across a mobility journey with seven distinct stages from arranging the trip to arriving at a destination. Kevin Malta's Waymo team needed research-backed wayfinding concepts validated with the riders who'd actually depend on them, in support of a submission to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Inclusive Design Challenge.

A research participant with a white cane holding up a phone on a Market Street sidewalk.

The Goal

Design and test wayfinding concepts against real proximity scenarios — a few blocks away, on the same block, right nearby — and translate research findings into design principles and next steps solid enough to support the DOT submission and guide what Waymo's product team built next.

The Solution

As a design and research consultant working with Waymo through Jack Strategy, I contributed to two rounds of research, selecting and testing five prototyped wayfinding concepts:

  1. improved in-app navigation with VoiceOver and TalkBack support and Google Maps turn-by-turn integration,
  2. purpose-built car sounds and melodies,
  3. light-based vehicle identification,
  4. hands-free in-car communication,
  5. video chat support with Rider Support agents.
Illustration of a hand holding a phone that announces "Your car is 100 yards away," with the car in the distance.
Illustration of a rider with a white cane walking toward a self-driving car that is playing a melody.
Illustration of a rider looking toward a self-driving car whose lights are glowing to signal its location.
Illustration of a rider with a backpack being greeted by name by a speech bubble from the car.
Illustration of a phone video call with a Rider Support agent saying the door handle is a few feet in front of the rider.

The five concepts: better app navigation, purpose-built car sounds, locating with lights, hands-free car comms, and video chat with Rider Support.

Round 1 ran ten in-person 90-minute interviews on Market Street in San Francisco, testing organic wayfinding, a honk-horn feature, and rider support tools directly with blind and low-vision participants.

Three masked researchers checking phones together on a sidewalk during a field session.
Running in-person sessions on Market Street.

Round 2 moved remote, simulating hands-free wayfinding with VoiceOver, low-GPS conditions, and post-ride orientation with another ten participants.

Waymo app prototype showing a walking route on the map and "4 min to pickup."
Waymo app prototype showing the car 40 feet ahead with a direction arrow and a "Honk the car's horn" button.
Waymo app prototype with wayfinding and car controls grouped in the "Ready at pickup" bottom sheet.
Waymo app prototype of a video chat call with a Rider Support agent.

Prototype screens: turn-by-turn walking directions, car proximity, consolidated car controls, and Rider Support video chat.

The research surfaced personalized preferences — some testers wanted left/right directions with qualifiers like “bear” or “sharp” over clock-face or cardinal directions, on-demand rather than rate-limited melody replay, and curbside pickup even at the cost of extra walking distance, especially with a guide dog — and validated that video chat with Rider Support tested well even among initially skeptical participants.

A participant standing on the sidewalk with their guide dog.
Curbside pickup mattered most to riders traveling with a guide dog or cane.

Those findings shaped four design principles for the team:

  1. safe and comfortable over fast and close,
  2. flexibility over universality,
  3. preparedness over just-in-time discovery, and
  4. seamless integration over discrete moments.

The research fed directly into Waymo's Inclusive Design Challenge submission, which the DOT recognized with a 2022 Inclusive Design Award.

Two people crossing a sunny downtown San Francisco intersection, one using a walker.
A research participant with a white cane holding up a phone on a Market Street sidewalk.
A participant in a red jacket with a white cane checks a phone beside a researcher on a brick sidewalk.
A participant opening the rear door of a white Waymo vehicle at the curb.
Close-up of a Waymo vehicle's lit rooftop sensor dome, used to help riders identify their car.
A participant holding a phone running the Waymo app prototype.
A participant seated in the back of a Waymo vehicle, seen through the open door.
A participant holding up a phone to show their surroundings during a Rider Support video chat test.
A participant and a researcher standing on a plaza sidewalk during an orientation exercise.

Round 1 fieldwork on Market Street, San Francisco.

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