The following thesis deals with the lack of cycling infrastructure in Slovenia. With the recent growth of popularity of cycling in Slovenia, the absence is becoming ever more relevant. Recreational cyclists wish to improve their performance and spend their leisure time in an active manner but often they have to pay more attention to wayfinding than cycling itself, which a clear sign of the insufficiency of Slovenia’s current cycling infrastructure. To tackle the problem, I developed a mobile application to help cyclists along their way - by tracking GPS signal the application helps in wayfinding along the route, and cyclists can also publish their routes on their profiles. Via crowdsourcing, they can also share their routes onto the Slovenian cycling routes database. As a recreational cyclist, I experienced this problem first-handedly and thus saw it as relevant before starting to work on this project already. Due to a lack of directional signs on routes and a complete absence of a comprehensive directional system, satisfactory navigation was not possible. As I began my research, I later defined one of my cycling experiences as a ‘service safari’. I started my research by analyzing Slovenia’s cycling infrastructure, the general information design and wayfinding. I later expanded the original research question using a quantitative method. With the help of interviews and a user journey diagram that I constructed, I found that the defined infrastructure problem was based solely on my own experiences. The lack of directional sings turned out to be just part of the problem. With this in mind, I redesigned the project and began forming an application system. I designed the concept for a navigation cycling application using visual and typographic means. I applied wayfinding principles to the digital space in order to develop a systematic solution. I hence developed an information design based on individual route level that could later also equip directional signs in the actual physical environment.In my assignment I used the information design method to reassess the initial definition of the problem, which enabled me to better define the solution and choose an appropriate approach to achieve it. The user experience can only be improved through the user’s active participation in the process. Without professional support and adequate resources however, the concept I present here represents just one possible idea for improving everyday life of cyclists in Slovenia.
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