This app allows people to take a nap, listen to music, and scroll through their phones on public transport without the worry of missing their destination. In 2019 METROREX transported 90.500M people with around 600K – 800K people taking the subway daily, and STB (terrestrial public transport) has 2.4M daily. Taking public transport is a mundane thing for a lot of people and engaging in other activities keeps them distracted from their daily routine trip. Those distractions are the cause of people missing the stop.

Market research  |  Competitive analysis  |  User survey  |  Personas  |  User journey map  |  Storyboarding  |  Flow diagram  Low-fidelity Wireframes  |  High-fidelity UI Design (  Usability study  | UI Style Guide and Grid  )


Market research

THE CLAIM

People need more mediums nowadays to be informed about where to get off. In Romania not all public transport has image signs or audio feedback telling what station people are in or what station comes next. People trying to distract themselves from their daily routine is another factor why people miss their stop.

THE PROBLEM

People who listen to music will look for visual cues. People who look at their phones need audio cues. For people who take a short nap, it gets even more tricky. For long train trips with 3h+, some people may sleep and need some sort of information that they’re about to reach their destination.


Competitive analysis

11 IOS apps were downloaded and tested and also other methods like setting a custom reminder with an active location-based alarm were taken into consideration. They were reviewed independently and the most important features got noted. They were given a rating based on how they behaved, how easy was the UI to navigate, and how easily the need was satisfied.

Conclusions

Customizations and toggles are the main features of this kind of app. Freedom in choosing how to select a destination, whether is by placing a pin or entering an address is also an important feature to take into consideration. All apps use location based alarm, non of them are made for subterranean mediums of transportation.


User survey

With this survey, we like to figure out what are the most used types of public transport, and what made the passenger skip their stop. We also like to check the pros and cons of the existing methods that some people use so that they don’t miss their destination.

From this survey, we concluded that people in Bucharest don’t have a reliable everyday way to tell them when to get off. They change their approach almost daily because either it’s very crowded and they can’t see the visual signs, or they listen to music and can’t hear audio announcements, or they’re sleepy and don’t pay attention to them. Almost all of them have a thing in common, they use their phone in some way or another.


Personas

Three personas were created based on a larger group of users found in the user survey and from the features found in the competitor’s app, to explain the major goals and frustrations of the user group. We chose to have a female and a male persona because we saw a difference in gender behavior in public transport in Bucharest.


User journey map

Delia

The user journey map identifies the pain points and feelings Delia might go through on a normal day. Two scenarios show what would it’d be if she missed or reached her stop. Here is presented the scenario where she reaches her destination. I also added the opportunities other apps didn’t have.


TASKLIST
  • She gets her wallet from her backpack so that she can validate the metro card.
FEELINGS
  • She’s anxious because she doesn’t find her wallet quickly.
  • She’s annoyed that it’s crowded and has to wait to get in.
PAIN POINTS
  • With a daily routine, going and coming back home from the university, taking public transport is a mundane task.
  • The distraction used in public transport sometimes makes her skip her stop.
APP OPPORTUNITY
  • She receives a daily notification set by her to get into the app quicker, but also not to forget to start the journey.
*This is necessary just for subway trains because there is no GPS connection and the app counts the stations by accelerometer from when the user presses start.

TASKLIST
  • She scans the card and gets in.
  • She tries to pick up the pace so she gets on her first subway train that comes/ or has arrived.
  • She gets on the train, grabs the holding bar, and starts to read/ text/play on her phone.
FEELINGS
  • She’s anxious and rushes to see if her subway train has arrived or not.
  • She's annoyed that it’s rush hour and it’s crowded.
PAIN POINTS
  • The existing apps for this problem do not support any underground transportation because they lose GPS signal.
APP OPPORTUNITY
  • She starts her preset trip and carries on with her tasks, listening to music and browsing her phone.
  • The trip can be started from the lock screen or by opening the app right from the lock screen.

TASKLIST
  • She wants to concentrate on reading/ texting/ playing on her phone but has to keep an eye out to see when to get off.
FEELINGS
  • She’s frustrated that she wants to rehearse but gets distracted because she has to keep an eye on the visual signs in the metro as well so she won’t miss her stop.
PAIN POINTS
  • In most of the apps (except 1) the created trip is toggled on or off and can’t be set on individual days. Thus creating confusion when she wants to take public transport on weekend to another station. Unless she toggles the trip off, the alarm will go off near her university.
APP OPPORTUNITY
  • The app’s alarm can be customized, by choosing from different sounds and vibrations. If the user chooses to listen to music they will hear the alarm in their headphones.
  • The app can be set to only vibration too.

TASKLIST
  • She checks the visual signs on the subway train and sees that the next stop is her destination.
  • She locks her phone and goes to the nearest door to prepare to get off to her stop.
FEELINGS
  •  She feels relieved that she doesn’t have to pay attention to different tasks.
  • She’s happy that she arrived and doesn't have to stay cramped.
PAIN POINTS
  • She might get anxious the first time using the app because she’s not sure if it’ll work properly or not.
APP OPPORTUNITY
  • The app‘s alarm goes off before the designated distance/ time.
  • The distracted user is reminded to prepare to get off.

TASKLIST
  • She gets out of the subway.
FEELINGS
  • She’s mildly annoyed that it’s crowded and the people in the station try to get in before people get out of the subway train.
PAIN POINTS
  • For a seamless experience, she has to give the app permission to refresh in the background and the location to be always on.
APP OPPORTUNITY
  • The app‘s alarm goes off before the designated distance/ time.
  • The distracted user is reminded to prepare to get off.

Flow diagram

This is a simple flow diagram of the main task that the user can do. The full diagram can be found below including all the steps and decisions that the user needs to make to register a trip. There are two important flows, one for underground trips and other for terrestrial trips. Here is presented the underground flow.


Low-fidelity Wireframes

We prototyped the Low-fidelity Wireframes to test on a couple of users different scenarios. We made a research plan where we outlined the research goals, enlisted questions to be asked, and info. about participants and a script with tasks to complete. Here are some of the users feedback.

GETTING FEEDBACK
  • 1. They didn't see the difference between a quick trip and a normal trip.
  • 2. The icon is confusing.
  • 3. Always setting the vibrations and sound for every trip is too much work.
  • 4. The sign was confused with a tram or train, not a subway.
  • 5. Choosing a route was tedious and specific for a city.
  • 6. Creating a trip should be more visible and easy to find, for quick use.
  • 7. They didn't understand what they were toggling on and off.
  • 8. The trip screen is more important than the map screen in this case.
  • 9. The only way to start a trip is by pressing the created trip icon.
  • 10. Activate button should be named START.
  • 11. Doesn't show info. on how much it will take to reach the destination.

High-fidelity UI Design

After the user test feedback, we created the High-fidelity UI. This was tested on another group of people for prototype validation. Below you can find some of the tasks that were given with a prototype to try for yourself.

Bus, Tram, Subway, Train

The app is designed for multiple public transport mediums like terrestrial: Bus, Tram, Ferry which use location-based alarms, but also subterranean mediums: Subways that use the accelerometer.

Save trip or Quick trip

The user can create a Quick trip or swipe up for more advanced settings. Everyday mundane trips can be saved and whether they are tired or out of focus, the app will notify the user when to get off.

Distance and stations

After starting the trip and depending on the type of transportation system the user chooses, a live widget will appear with the current distance or the number of stations left until the final stop.


Prototype

If the prototype moves slowly, you can view it here.


To test the prototype effectively, access it using a desktop computer for the best user experience.


UI STYLE GUIDE & GRID

Once the Low-fidelity wireframes were tested, and the final flow was finished, a simple UI Style Guide was created to maintain consistency. We chose a dark theme to help the user navigate better in low-light environments (subway, or at night). An accessibility check was made, and the app has been evaluated for contrast to match at least AA standards. The color contrast was tested with the “Contrast Checker” by WebAIM.


GETTING FEEDBACK
  • 1. The View/ Start action changed from a swipe to a click. Also, the transport method is now shown for a much clearer organization.
  • 2. The icons changed to be more specific to the type of transportation. The active trip information changed from a color to an icon. Multiple trips can be active at once and the user sometimes got lost on which trip they created. The color gave more importance to a specific trip and created confusion.

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