IDOT Bike Facility Database
Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) manages thousands of bike trails, lanes, and roadway features statewide, but had no centralized system to store or access this data. Missing or outdated information caused construction delays, inaccurate budgets, and confusion between departments.
Role: Lead UX Designer
Goal: Create a publicly accessible, map-based database of all bike facility infrastructure in Illinois.
Understanding the Users
The application needed to support multiple user groups with different goals:
State Administrators
Budgeting and planning for infrastructure improvements.
Construction Planners
Preparing accurate, on-site work plans.
Casual Bikers
Looking for safe commuting options
Aficionado Bikers
Researching long-distance or specialized routes
Stakeholder access was limited, so research was done through recurring meetings with project managers. These conversations helped define user types, workflows, and knowledge gaps.
Key Pain Points
1. Inaccurate Budgets & Schedules
Administrators lacked visibility into existing bike infrastructure leading to underestimated budgets and unrealistic construction timelines.
2. No Central Resource for Public Bikers
Both casual riders and enthusiasts had no reliable way to discover trails, bike lanes, or route information.
3. Hidden Risks for Construction Crews
Crews often arrived onsite only to discover unexpected bike-related infrastructure, derailing plans and wasting weeks of preparation.
Design Approach
Feature Requirements
The tool needed to be a GIS-based application built in ESRI Map Builder, allowing users to:
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Search bike facilities across the state
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View detailed facility information
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Draw or edit infrastructure directly on the map
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Submit updates for IDOT review
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Allow administrators to approve, deny, or update user submissions
Low-Fidelity Exploration
I began by mapping functional requirements into a high-level workflow:
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How users would navigate the map
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Where facility information would live
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Tools required for drawing and editing
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Search and filtering structure
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Admin review workflow
Wireframes captured these flows and helped validate that all requirements could fit logically into the interface.
High-Fidelity Designs & Handoff
Once the workflows were validated, I moved into high-fidelity mockups aligned with ESRI Map Builder’s capabilities. Handoff was smooth, as IDOT teams were already familiar with the ESRI environment.
The final application:
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Met all functional requirements
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Was delivered on time despite tight deadlines
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Was immediately adopted by IDOT and is still in use today
Testing & Validation
With no budget for formal UX testing, I created a functional Figma prototype and tested it with:
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Internal teammates unfamiliar with the project
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Project managers
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Client stakeholders
To create consistency, I developed task-based scenarios for each user type. The most helpful feedback came from testers with no prior context; their reactions revealed navigation issues, unclear labels, and opportunities to streamline actions.
Outcomes
The final product delivered:
Provided a centralized database of bike facilities across the state
Allowed for community sourced information
Improved the accuracy of state DoT budgets
Cut down construction project delays
What I Learned
Be Adaptable
You can still produce meaningful user insights without formal research by being able to adapt, gather what you can, and synthesize quickly.
Get Creative
Low-budget testing, like internal prototype walkthroughs, still provides valuable and actionable feedback.
Imperfect Steps Are Better Than No Steps
Not every project follows the textbook UX process, but an imperfect version of each step is better than skipping steps entirely.
This experience strengthened my ability to design strategically under constraints and deliver functional, user-centered solutions in challenging environments.