sitting in my car in a Seattle parking lot. there’s a knock on my window. it’s an old lady, who asks me “how do we pay for parking?”

she’s taking her husband to the hospital to see his doctor, but there’s a massive road project that has cut off access for months, no end in sight, so she’s parked a few blocks away. almost every parking lot in town removed their pay stations years ago. she has a smartphone but no idea how to handle this situation.

she never would have figured it out. her words, and I don’t doubt her.

the lot has three signs hung up with instructions on how to pay, because every single lot in town supports one to five different competing parking lot apps. there’s one sign that says you can use Park Mobile, and gives a lot ID, and then on another wall there’s a sign that says you can use PayByPhone, with a different lot ID, and then there’s a huge sign with a QR code that encourages you to Scan Here To Park, as if it’s the official primary method for doing so. It is not, it’s just another app.

I’ve scanned these before and gotten an “Instant App.” I figure this is minimal friction for this person, so I suggest she do so. she pulls