NYC PARKS
3 Months
2023
Park Pulse is a digital mobile application designed to reconnect park visitors with the green spaces around them, focusing on the parks’ history, ecology, and navigation. More than just a guide, the app empowers users to actively engage with and contribute to their local parks. By addressing challenges such as gentrification and the displacement of long-term residents in Brooklyn, the app fosters community involvement and a sense of collective ownership, creating a park experience that is for and by the community.
The project began with broad research into green spaces across New York City. Our team spent the first month conducting field research at parks like Prospect Park, Sunset Park, and Central Park, speaking directly with park visitors to understand their experiences and concerns.
Through qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys, we learned that many long-term residents of Brooklyn were feeling alienated from the parks due to ongoing gentrification. The influx of new residents and commercialization of park-adjacent areas had shifted the cultural and social dynamics of these spaces. This discovery allowed us to refine our focus toward addressing this displacement, especially within Brooklyn.
We condensed our research findings into a clear problem statement: How can we design a park experience that is inclusive and empowering for long-term residents, giving them a voice in shaping their community spaces?
With this in mind, we defined our final solution as a digital intervention that bridges the gap between local residents and their parks through accessible, community-driven design.
To document this three-month research process, we created an interactive PDF that captures our methodology and findings. This includes a comprehensive look at the interviews, user personas, pain points, and journey maps we developed to inform the design process.
The outcome was Park Pulse, a mobile app that integrates local insights, ecological information, and navigational tools with an emphasis on community input. Visitors can not only learn about the park’s features but also participate in the conversation around its future, submitting suggestions for improvements or highlighting areas of concern. This feedback loop fosters a sense of ownership and ensures that parks remain inclusive, dynamic spaces that evolve with the community’s needs.
The app’s UI/UX design was crafted to be intuitive and accessible, with seamless navigation and vibrant visuals. Features include interactive maps, eco-tours, historical insights, and community-driven events and feedback mechanisms.
We also launched a branding campaign alongside the app to drive user adoption. The advertising strategy focused on creating a sense of excitement and inclusivity around the app’s functionality. By incorporating bold, colorful graphics and references to local culture, the campaign resonated with the target audience—long-term Brooklyn residents who may feel disconnected from the gentrified spaces around them.
The campaign was designed to be eye-catching, with elements placed throughout parks to inspire visitors to download the app. From posters to social media content, every touchpoint emphasized how the app enables visitors to take an active role in their park’s future.
As this project was developed as part of a research initiative for NYU, we were not able to fully gauge the long-term impact of Park Pulse. While the app's design and concept were well-received during the research and prototyping phase, and initial feedback suggested that it could help bridge the gap between communities and their local parks, the project did not reach the stage of implementation. As a result, we were unable to track real-world adoption or measure its impact on combating the alienation caused by gentrification. However, the project provided valuable insights into how digital interventions can foster community engagement and inclusivity in public spaces, laying the groundwork for potential future development.
How can we create a park experience for and by the community?
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NYU (Research Project)
Sector
Digital Experience
Community Engagement
Public Spaces
Discipline
UI/UX Design
Brand Identity
Heyzine (Interactive PDF)
Adobe Creative Suite
Figma
Project Team
Ayushi Shah
Seba Alabdulattif
Reshma Gowda
Riva Wang
Aditi Gupta
Role
Art Director, UI/UX Designer