What the research said

Findings (synthesis)

During Sprint 1, the team explored five candidate ideas: Small-Business Cash Flow Forecaster, Small-Business Tax Helper, Autopilot personal financial management, AI Bike Fit, and Free Parking Handshake & Live Parking Intelligence. Research moved the team from several problem areas to Damn Parking: reducing uncertainty about parking availability.

Across interviews, participants used manual workarounds when information was fragmented: receipts and spreadsheets for small-business finance, account checks for personal spending, trial-and-error bike setup for cyclists, and circling, arriving early, asking others, or choosing distant spaces for drivers. These approaches often still left uncertainty.

Parking research showed a recurring information gap. One Phase 1 participant spent about 40 minutes finding campus parking and arrived late to work; when a lot was full, they drove around or asked students walking toward cars whether they were leaving. In Phase 2, participants wanted information about nearby parking, available space, and crowding. Capacity and location mattered, but drivers lacked timely information to guide the search.

Strongest finding

Knowing where parking is located does not tell a driver whether a useful space will be available on arrival. Participants already used maps, circled lots, watched for departures, and contacted other people to fill that gap. Availability information could support different parking strategies even when frustration levels differ.

Why Damn Parking rose to the top

• Repeatability: searching, crowding, or uncertainty about available spaces appeared across participants.
• Observable impact: circling, waiting, longer walks, frustration, and lateness.
• Information gap: concrete requests for proximity, occupancy, or expected departures.

Project direction

The research informs a prototype centered on live parking intelligence: display availability in selected locations, include a basic map, accept departure updates, and demonstrate camera-based occupancy detection on a limited scale. Interviews establish the user need; they do not prove technology accuracy. Scope excludes city-wide camera installation, a complete parking network, payment processing, and commercial deployment.

What we pivoted from