20 Methods for a Bicycle User Experience (BUX)

#UserCenteredDesignMethods #Methods

How might we design for how everyday people feel while riding a bike? How can we make everyday biking widespread and inclusive through user-centered street design?

The Bicycle User Experience (BUX) approach brings human-centered design methods to bicycle planning to do this. The interdisciplinary, user-centered approach aims for usable, comfortable and practical bike infrastructure that is integrated into the specific context of the community.

This blog has explored 16 methods for realizing this goal, and along with the 4 original methods* there are now a total of 20 methods that can be deployed to design a BUX:

1. Personas*

2. Heuristic Evaluation*

3. User Experience Mapping*

4. Directed Storytelling*

5. Think Aloud - Ride Along*

6. Simulation Exercises

7. Love Letters & Breakup Letters

8. Idea Surfaces

9. Critical Incident Analysis

10. Artifact Analysis*

11. A/B Testing

12. Competitive Analysis*

13. Evaluative Research

14. Task Breakdown*

15. Emotional Analysis

16. Spatial Footprint Assessment

17. Touchstone Tours

18. Street Space Utilization Inventory

19. Stakeholder Opportunity Analysis

20. Stakeholder Gaming

So far, we've only done an initial exploration of these methods- each one will have to develop more with time and be tried out in practice.

Eventually, this may evolve into a booklet or kit that planners can use at work to make streets where people of all backgrounds can comfortably and happily ride bikes.

*Note: the BUX Methods Toolkit now comprises 9 full methods, including the ones above with asterisks.

Want to take your learning about methods to the next level? Enroll in our User Centered Design Methods Training or our online course User Experience for Inclusive Cycling in Cities.