Interdisciplinary Vertically Integrated Project team is a New York Product Design Awards 2024 Silver Winner

May 1, 2025 by engrmktcomm

Members of the Software for Social Good VIP team. From left to right: William Benton, Ph.D., VCU da Vinci Center assistant professor, Inho Park, Quynh Nguyen and Ami Zhang.

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) students Ami Zhang, Inho Park and Quynh Nguyen were recognized by the 2024 New York Product Design Awards for designing “CoPath,” a mobile travel app created with the purpose of reducing traffic and carbon emissions in urban areas with high population density. This team is a part of Software for Social Good (SSG), which is a multidisciplinary Vertically Integrated Project (VIP) that provides an experiential learning opportunity where computer science, VCU Arts, the VCU da Vinci Center and an array of other majors can intersect.

“Working outside of my discipline was challenging at first. Meetings ran long because designers and developers didn’t share the same technical language, and everyone interpreted the project’s goals differently. But gradually, the team learned to communicate across disciplines, and meetings became more efficient,” said Park. “Cross-disciplinary collaboration is an experience I’m grateful for, especially now that I see how essential it is in professional workplaces.”

Software for Social Good’s members shared that their collective experience was a positive one, which is why they strongly recommend joining. They believe taking part in the VIP program benefits students in the long run. It builds character through learning how to work in a professional environment and not to let failure deter them.

“The ability to participate in real-world projects is so important to have before graduating college to help prepare you for your future career. You get practice on how to interact with clients, planning meetings and designing presentations,” Zhang insisted. “Knowing how to speak and present yourself in a clear manner is so important, especially when the client knows nothing about design, and sometimes they are in a field that you aren’t familiar with, and being able to bridge that gap is crucial to making sure you understand you are solving the right problem.”

The New York Product Design Awards is an organization that honors skilled product designers, teams and manufacturers worldwide that present inventions crafted to improve daily life. A nominated jury panel of revered professionals select the entries that are simultaneously practical and innovative.

“It was an incredibly rewarding experience. Winning an award was never our main goal, so it came as a complete surprise. In fact, we only decided to go for the award after the project was completed, which made the recognition feel even more meaningful. It was a great validation of our team’s hard work and reinforced my belief in the importance of making transit more accessible and sustainable for communities,” said Park.

CoPath aims to change the concept of Demand-Responsive Transport (DRT) for the better. This is described as ride-pooled buses functioning similarly to taxis with fares that are approximately the same rate public transit typically charges. It’s comparable to services such as VCU’s RamSafe. CoPath’s algorithm operates so that it chooses the most efficient route for driving passengers to their destination using the fewest number of vehicles possible within a reasonable time frame. What makes it different from other ride-sharing apps is that it doubles as a social platform, meaning that it allows users to find routes of riders traveling the same direction. This way, they can group together ride pools within the app.

“The original problem was actually for the RidePingo app for Ramsafe. We noticed that there were many issues with the users feeling frustrated with booking the ride, due to constant pickup time fluctuations and always having to check the phone to see when the bus would arrive. After conducting user research, we came up with three features to help users build confidence in the app, and therefore reducing the ride cancellation rate,” said Zhang.

Those three features incorporated are a ride demand graph that shows how many people are currently using the app, a wait queue where users can see their place in line and lockscreen notifications that estimate how far away the bus is from their stop and inform them of any delays. “Hop-On” was also added as a new design where patrons can view similar trips others booked and join theirs rather than request an individual ride.

CoPath’s key advantages are its ability to transport mass amounts of riders quickly in a matter that’s environmentally friendly and being a low-cost solution for parts of the city considered “low-demand.” In particular, students in the local area can pool together so that they all arrive on campus when they need to be there. This makes for less new requests and a shorter wait time. Cities also benefit due CoPath being an inexpensive version of DRT that gives patrons control over their trip’s punctuality and settings.

The team corresponded with The Routing Company, which runs RidePingo. They provided support by attending meetings and lending their feedback on if their proposals were doable. The Routing Company’s mentorship and close analytical insights are credited with helping SSG move past different obstacles. Virginia Commonwealth University’s Parking and Transportation and RMA Limo also played a significant role in the development of CoPath.

Zhang expresses that the process of building the app was very research-heavy. The group conducted several interviews and, by doing so, discovered commonalities and insights between users. After gathering enough information, they worked together to deduce the most feasible plan of action.

“The most difficult part was trying to ensure that our solutions would be something that The Routing Company could realistically implement, since the app wasn’t just for college students. It was also used in some places in Europe to get transportation from buses. We had to make sure what we designed could be used for broader situations, rather than just within a college campus. I think the most interesting part was when we chose the features we wanted to implement, and fleshing out what that design would look like, and being able to see how it would integrate with the rest of the app,” said Zhang.

Park emphasizes that data collection and testing out a prototype on real cityfolk greatly contributed to the project’s success, though keeping its stamina up proved to be tough.

“The fun part of developing the CoPath app was having access to VCU’s RamSafe, which provided an easy way to gather user feedback. Testing ideas with a prototype is crucial for most apps, and we were fortunate to have the VCU campus as a testbed to observe how users interacted with our prototype. We spoke with students, drivers, VCU Parking & Transportation staff, and RMA Limo—the company that provides vehicles and drivers for VCU RamSafe—to gain insights from different stakeholders. Earlier, I mentioned that collaboration was the most valuable lesson I took away from VIP and this project—but at the same time, it was also one of the most difficult aspects. That said, I’m grateful to have met an amazing team and made great friends through this project,” said Park.

Zhang first got involved with the SSG VIP during her sophomore year at the university. The project had already been in production for a year. Since it related to the career path she wishes to pursue, she was eager to join the team.

Park was the leader of the project and initially kickstarted it independently. However, in fall of 2022, he decided to merge it with the SSG upon realizing that VCU’s late-night bus system was in need of drastic reformation. Park knew that he’d need to collaborate with others to accomplish this, so he pitched the idea to Life Sciences Assistant Professor William Benton, Ph.D, and Computer Science Professor John Leonard, Ph.D., in hopes of turning it into a VIP.

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