Seating Guide: Solving Train Seat Congestion

Efficiently Finding Your Seat with the Seating Guide Design

Train stations often have multiple entrances, and passengers tend to flock to the nearest one, resulting in congestion and delays. The Seating Guide design aims to solve this problem by providing passengers with a simple and efficient way to locate their seats.

The Seating Guide design is a clever addition to train tickets. By attaching a guide map to the ticket, passengers can quickly and easily find their seats without getting caught in the crowd. The map is marked with black symbols that indicate the seat area, making it easy to identify the correct entrance and navigate to the designated seat.

The Seating Guide design is not only practical but also cost-effective. It utilizes existing ticket materials and production processes, ensuring minimal additional expenses. Passengers can simply take their ticket and refer to the Seating Guide to find their seats, saving time and energy for everyone on board.

During the development of the Seating Guide design, WenKai Li and Dan Yu conducted extensive research to understand the extent of the problem. They surveyed 100 passengers randomly and found that the majority of them considered the difficulty of finding a closer entrance to their assigned car a significant issue. This motivated the designers to find a solution that would minimize inconvenience and improve the overall train travel experience.

The Seating Guide design faced its fair share of challenges during its development. Conducting field investigations at train stations proved difficult, as station managers limited the designers' access and some passengers were not receptive to their inquiries. However, these obstacles did not deter WenKai Li and Dan Yu from their mission to create a practical and efficient solution.

The Seating Guide design was realized using paper, with dimensions of 85mm x 54mm x 0.2mm. Its simplicity and effectiveness make it a valuable addition to train travel, benefiting passengers of all ages and abilities. By reducing congestion and streamlining the process of finding seats, the Seating Guide design enhances the overall train travel experience.

The Seating Guide design, created by WenKai Li and Dan Yu, received the Bronze A' Design Award in 2018. This prestigious accolade recognizes designs that demonstrate creativity, ingenuity, and resourcefulness. The Seating Guide design exemplifies these qualities by incorporating best practices in art, science, design, and technology, ultimately improving the quality of life for train passengers worldwide.