Designing a cohesive and integrated cycling network for the city of Helsinki.
This is a collaboration project of Aalto University’s Design for Services course and Helsingin Kaupungin Liikennelaitos (HKL). The ‘pyöräillen’ concept was created by 4 masters’ students with the aim of helping HKL improve its services for cyclists in Helsinki.
We approached the project from two angles, (1) what would a service hub for cyclists be? (2) and why is Herttoniemi an important location for this?
Master's course in Design for Services - Professor Tuuli Mattelmaki
Team Members: Emmi Haapajoki, Ronja Mahosenaho, Maritere Vargas, Joseph Savage
Client: Helsingin Kaupungin Liikennelaitos (HKL)
Research Methods
Ethnography, Site visits, Semi-formal and Expert Interviews. We examined the station’s use, photographing and observing the commuters. We conducted 30+ semi-structured interviews at the station and heard how people felt about the current state of the station and cycling. We also interviewed three experts at HKL, gaining their insights into the future of Herttoniemi.
Pain points: that signage is hard to find, that the snowy weather conditions impacted the quality of bike parking offered, and that users found cycling in Helsinki was regarded as difficult at best.
Workshops & Validation
When we entered into the ideation phase, dreaming about what could be rather than what already is, we conducted visioning workshops. We held three events, an ideation workshop with cyclists from Herttoniemi, a group interview with HePo members and an Ideation Café with our classmates.
“It feels like I don’t belong in the station, where am I supposed to be?”
”I’m not comfortable with leaving my bike where it’s supposed to be, the current bike park is not welcoming.”
Design Drivers
From the research we formulated opportunity areas and design drivers. The opportunity areas we identified were the greatest needs presented by the users. These opportunities were integration, information, and safety, which we used to tailor our solution.
User Typologies
Based on interviews, workshops with the cyclists, and desk research, we broke down the users into 4 typologies. They are categorized based on their bike use, how regularly they cycle, their motivations, and use of online journey planners.
User Journey
Pyöräillen would be a green thread that follows and supports the cyclists throughout their journey. By entire journey we mean from door to door, not only at the metro station. The image below is a representation of the user journey and the possible options the metro station could provide for them. We divided the journey into before, during and after sections and included the most relevant touch points between the user and the service.
Herttoniemi metro station as a service hub
Green and lively, Herttoniemi functions as a transit point that integrates metro, Baanat and buses. People are commuting through Herttoniemi from east Helsinki such as Itäkeskus, Vuosaari, Ruoholahti as well as from the other growing suburbs.
The renovation of the station will start in 2018, and our plan is to use the second metro entrance as the location of the cycling pit stop. We see it important to highlight our five main improvement areas with these upgrades. Combining existing options from integrating the parking racks provided by WSP Design Studio, implementing a Pyöräkeskus (bicycle repair center), cycling information, self-service repair station, and creating new parking options and services e.g. bringing a new bike mechanic from a local cyclist shop into Pyöräkeskus and hosting cycling related events, as well as sheltering the area from traffic sound pollution by green walls.
Conclusion
Helsinki city has a vision for cycling and has taken the first steps towards creating a cycling friendly city. We have created a unified approach to bridge the gap between that vision and the first steps. Pyöräillen is an integrated service ecosystem that presents a holistic service offering for the cyclist. As they say - it is not an end but a journey - let’s make it easy and efficient for everyone.