Omni Private Parking Spot Rentals
In downtown cores, stadium districts or any large places of gathering, finding a parking spot can get tedious, even with an app to book spots in parking lots beforehand, finding an available spot near the venue can be confusing, especially while trying to navigate crowded indoor parking lots.
Case Study: Ottawa General Hospital
Available parking at Ottawa General Hospital is notoriously known for being hard to find and spots can be far from buildings people want to get to. Nearby homes and offices always have empty spots available even during peak hours. Demand for parking in paid private spots is ideal here.
Working Together with City By-laws
Many large North American cities do not allow for residential and commercial (retail/restaurants) parking spots to be rented out. However, with a cohesive system in place that can easily track and regulate parking, the narrative may soon change with many benefits to both the city and residents.
User Flow Chart
A flow chart was created to show how a user would interact with the 3 sections of the app by navigating through the main screens and engaging with secondary screens and/or UI features.
Finding Parking
A map view with available parking spots is always the first screen shown when the app is opened without an ongoing parking status. Swiping up gives a list view of nearby locations with rates and features. Similarly, the nearest location can also be accessed through WatchOS for added convenience.
Paying for Parking
Once an account is created and vehicles & payment methods are added, users can quickly choose their vehicle and duration to pay for the spot chosen. Some venues with a mix of online and physical ticketing have scanners for users to pay for parking, a reusable QR code is used for users to scan and automatically pay for their spot in locations with such available method.
Viewing Parking Information
The most used features for parking apps are the remaining time and location of parked vehicles. These two are available on Omni’s dashboard along with access from widgets and WatchOS. Parking fines enforced by by-laws or from omni (for going over time or inaccurate description) can be viewed in the dashboard, while municipal fines can be disputed similarly to current parking tickets through the municipality’s website.
Profiting From Unused Parking Spaces by 'Hosting'
On the host side, a new section is opened up when a user decides to host a parking spot. A single dashboard with earnings summary and currently parked vehicles are shown, having a detailed view slide up. Depending on municipal laws, unused commercial parking spots that are not being used can be listed as available parking spots for hosting.
Dark Mode
A rise in users preferring a darker interface, Omni is also designed to be used in dark mode, with certain UI elements remaining easily visible outdoors such as QR code tickets.
