Personalized onboarding & search.
Since the accessibility label didn't always cater to people's needs, GoAble asks users about them during onboarding — then filters results to match their profile.
GoAble
School Project: Redefining "washroom access"
GoAble informs users about washroom access and amenities in real-time, with a focus on personalization, community engagement, and trustworthiness.
I led the development of the design system and the interactive prototypes, using Figma Variables to flesh out interaction insights in our initial designs.
RoleProduct Designer
Timeline3 months
Team4 designers
Year2025
The Problem
Current washroom listings lack accessibility-related information.
Whether it's Google Maps, or dedicated washroom finding apps like Toilet Finder, washroom listings on the current market lack sufficient Washroom Access.
The Challenge
How do we make washrooms more accessible, when access means something different for everyone?
Community-driven status updates.
Washroom details pages show real-time availability, community sentiment, and granular amenity info so users can make informed decisions before they arrive.
Three-tap review & verification.
Quick-select, pre-loaded options reduce friction to near zero — making it just as easy to leave a review as it is to skip it.
Discovery
Surfacing barriers in washrooms across Toronto
Secondary research revealed the different barriers to access they experienced when finding a washroom. It influenced our design goals, tackling three critical issues in washroom finding:
Over-generalization of the accessibility label;
Limited Information on washroom listings; and
Unreliable Sources of truth.
Personas
Two people, two kinds of blocked.
Two things kept coming up in the research: people couldn't find the specific details they needed, and even when they could, they didn't trust them. These personas put a face to both of those problems, and shaped everything that came next.
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Initial Designs
Personalizing the search
Since the accessibility label didn't always cater to people's needs, we asked users about them during onboarding, influencing the washroom listings suggested during the search.
Providing the granular details
Washroom details pages show critical information such as: washroom amenity offering, real-time availability or concerns, and community sentiment to help users make informed decisions.
Creating community to verify the truth
To validate the status of the washroom, we envisioned a community section that acts as a source of truth that users can contribute to, so they can feel confident in their decision making.
Final Designs
Making accessibility personal
GoAble filters washrooms by your needs, surfaces granular details before you arrive, and uses crowdsourced reviews to keep information honest and reduce the stress of finding a suitable washroom in public.
Closing
Final thoughts and learnings
Access is MultidimensionalThis project taught me that access doesn't just mean physical, but also emotional and political barriers people face.
The Power of RestraintInstead of maximizing a design through incentives or by providing all options, I learned that people appreciate when designers show restraint—providing exactly what they need, when they need it, while respecting their choice to participate or not.
Fidelity is a QA Tool, Not Just a Presentation ToolI built the mid-fi prototype with Figma Variables specifically to stress-test interactions before committing to high-fidelity. That's where I caught the tag color ambiguity issue where users had no way to distinguish washroom states at a glance, and it would have been expensive to fix later. The mid-fi acted as a diagnostic tool.
What's NextThe feature I'd build next is in-building wayfinding. We cut it due to time, but it was the one thing our research surfaced that no existing tool handles at all.