RITA
WANG
NIGHT BUS STATION
Why do people stay up late?
Night Bus Station is an experimental website for nighttime dwellers to offload their emotions and connect with other people who are also up late.
Inspired by Malte Müller's Web Design as Architecture.
What do people think about at night? &
How do people's emotions change hour-by-hour?
→ METHODS OF MADNESS
Diary Studies: User documented their emotions during different hours of the night.
Graffiti Wall filled with my fellow designers' nighttime thoughts.
Camping in subreddits about sleeping time.
44%
Expressed relationship and family issues keep them up at night.
30%
Consistently express feelings of regret at 1am and 2am.
48%
Expressed feelings of anxiety & overwhelmed from 11pm to mightnight.
Universally, nighttime is a space for amplified consciousness and unresolved thoughts.
Cognitive decline after midnight
Research responses became shorter as night progressed, with midnight serving as the critical threshold for this shift.
Progressive loneiness
Feelings of isolation intensified as the night wore on for both students and working adults.
Why a bus station?
Places of public transit are transient in nature. By using the bus station, especially at night time, as a metaphor, the user will feel welcome to share their late night ruminations.
My photo of a bus station in Florence
→ VISUAL INSPIRATION FOR DESIGN
I used several references for the look of the station. Each hour at the station reflected a different version of nighttime I wanted to convey. I built the station with real life photos and p5.js animations.
Shoutout one of my favorite movies: Chungking Express (1994)!
The station metaphor serves as a framework for unloading ruminating thoughts and connecting with fellow nighttime dwellers.
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→ VIEWING OTHERS THOUGHTS
→ CHECKING THE HOURLY THEMES (BUS SCHEDULE)
→ STATION CLOSED DURING THE DAY
→ EACH HOUR HAS UNIQUE DESIGN AND ANIMATIONS
10PM
11PM
3AM
4AM