BA Product Design
Ben Barnett
I'm Ben Barnett, a product designer passionate about good design that is accessible to all. As a creative thinker and natural problem solver, design has always been an interest, especially surrounding another passion of mine, transport. I am always striving to use design as a tool to come up with solutions that make people's lives easier through convienience and accessibility.
Haille
Haille is a dual product system that helps passengers with visual impairments navigate, hail and board the correct bus at the correct stop. The dual product system comprises of a hand-held device with a permanent installation at bus stops. The device utilises voice command and text-to-speech prompts that enable the user to easily navigate their way to a bus stop of their choice. Through a series of audible directions and tactile paving, the hand-held device is then paired with the installation through the user scanning the in-built reader. Once paired with the installation, the system is aware of the user's presence and audible announcements are made when a bus is approaching.
Consequently, the device is then used to activate a light on the installation, or on the device itself as a backup, to alert the bus driver to make a stop and allow them to board. Haille is a system that is designed to revolutionise the ability of passengers with visual impairments to travel across the UK bus network with absolute confidence.
