Digital Zine
Designed by: Ken Fukutomi
Tools: Figma, Illustrator, Miro
Skills:
When navigating urban systems, it is easy to miss subtle behaviors and unmet needs. This project focused on discovering those needs first, not jumping to features. Using affinity diagramming and archetype analysis, I organized raw observations into patterns that showed what riders value most: reliability, clarity, sustainability, and access. The result is a set of user centered insights that inform scope, priorities, and success metrics for product decisions.
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Initial Design
I first recreated a realistic platform during a Figma DesignJam. Feedback from our mentor, Lisa, suggested a shift toward a digital magazine that would better meet the expectations of our target audience. This reframed our goal from pixel polish to problem understanding: who are the core users, what outcomes do they want, and what decisions should I make now versus later.
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Design Shift and Understanding Archetypes
I realized I was pushing solutions before validating needs. After feedback and reflection, I reset the approach: define user segments, write problem statements, capture jobs to be done, and list measurable outcomes. Archetypes then became a tool for focus, not a deliverable. They helped align the roadmap to user value and guided what to test first.
Using the STEEP framework, our foresight work examined social, technological, and policy trends in the Ann Arbor bus system, focusing on TheRide and the University of Michigan MBus. I decided to define commuter archetypes such as the time sensitive student, the sustainability minded resident, and the accessibility dependent rider. These narratives translated datasets into user needs and informed hypotheses for product changes, such as clearer transfer guidance, reliability signals, and access friendly wayfinding.
I also recognized constraints in funding, policy, and physical infrastructure. Rather than aim for a total redesign, I prioritized incremental changes with clear user value and measurable impact. This produced a sequence of experiments and metrics that can guide product strategy over time.
Read the Report ➤Updated on August 6th, 2025 by @kfukutom