OVERVIEW
Roles and Deliverables
This was a solo project which means I was a UX Researcher, Brand Designer, and Product Designer. I was in charge of conducting research, building a brand, and creating this app for this client. This app was not considered complete until the following was completed:
- User surveys
- Interviews
- 2 proto-personas
- Journey map
- 5 User flows
- Site map
- Initial sketches
- Wireframes
- Style Tile
- Usability tests
- Hi-fi Prototype
Problem
Your client is the transportation agency for a midsize metropolitan area in the Midwest. The city has a network of public buses. They currently list the expected bus schedule on their website and post it at each bus stop. However, if you have ever used a public bus, you know that expected bus times are rarely accurate, as things like traffic, the need for longer stops to assist passengers using wheelchairs, or taking a bus out of service for maintenance can impact the schedule.
Audience
The target audience was determined to be regular public transportation users that were in their 20’s who are tech-savvy but have multiple responsibilities whether that be multiple jobs or a job while getting an education. This allowed me to focus on features that would be good to include while developing and prioritizing screens.
Solution
The solution was to create an app that could show the current positions of every bus and be able to get that info quickly and on the go.
Process
Discovery and Research
There was a lot of research to be done. I started by sending out a survey to potential public transportation users. After receiving 33 responses here are the results:
- 100% of users that stated they rarely ride the bus would be more likely to if there was an app that helped them.
When asked to rate features of an app:
- 89% of users ranked "bus times" as very important.
- 77% of users ranked "bus stops near me" as important or very important.
- 72% of users ranked "offline capabilities" as either important or very important.
Competitive Analysis
I downloaded all 3 of these apps to see what was already out there in terms of transit apps. I had an advantage already given that I could track the buses and that is something that other apps would not be able to do. I found that all of these had the starting pin at the center of the app, I found this odd because it did not include a path for users to move freely within the map, this feature frustrated me as a user and wanted to include that in my survey to confirm that it would be a good feature to use. The established apps, however, resembled more of an Uber or Lyft function. This allowed me to think about a way to make it so that users know where they want to go and just want to check on buses and ETA’s to a certain stop without starting a route every time, this saves time for users to get their information if they do not have a need to plan out a route through the app.
Proto-Personas
I created two proto-personas for this process. I needed to round out my target audience and to do this I created these proto-personas to research a little bit more and to make sure I had considered as many perspectives as possible. Below is the breakdown of those personas.
Persona 1 - Elie
BIO
Elie is mid-way through her college courses and has been working at Urbana Coffee since she started. She works there full-time and does not have a mode of transportation so she uses the metro bus system regularly. She has trouble making sure which bus is stopping to to lack of clarity about which bus is coming. This has caused her to be late to work and miss some classes more than once.
Goals
-Graduating college while working full-time
-Get herself though college with minimal loans to pay off
-Successfully navigate college, work life, and a social life all at once
Drive
Elie is a dedicated student, and employee. She knows that she is meant for more than a barista career. That is why she is on a tight budget while she is attending college to get a better job for herself with as little debt as possible. She is unable to purchase a car so she relies on public transportation for everything from school to work to her social life.
Pain Points
- Buses seem to run early or late, anything but on time
- Has regular schedule so she knows the bus schedule but is unsure if it is on time or late on a given day
- Tired of having to triple check each bus to make sure she is getting on the correct bus
Persona 2 - Blake
BIO
Frank has been working at these bars for several years now, and has gotten used to his late schedule. He eventually wants to own one of the bars but would settle for being offered a manager position in a year or so. He has been working for that so he would have more of a consistent schedule and maybe be able to start saving more money for a car.
Goals
- Save up enough money to purchase a car
- Find a career path that he finds fulfilling so he can make more of a consistent income
- Wants to eventually become a manager at one of the bars where he works
Drive
Frank is a hard worker that is just trying to get enough money to buy a car. But, until then he uses the bus system. He has 3 roommates and is constantly busy. He has a semi-regular schedule, so he often knows the buses he needs to get on for each path, but with few new schedules he still needs to check the schedules to make sure he gets on the correct bus.
Pain Points
- Buses seem to run early or late, anything but on time
- has a semi-regular schedule so knows when his bus should come, but unable to figure out routes to other destinations
- Tired of having to take the bus and rely on such an unreliable source of travel
User Flows and Sketches
After creating personas, I created user flows to create paths through the app to solve these problems. This was the first concrete step in screen prioritization and will lead on to a site map, and sketches.
Once I created the user flows I began to sketch out my ideas, I created these sketches to be able to quickly get my ideas out and identify any pain-points and correct them before moving them to digital. While creating the user flows I realized that I could condense the final screens to solve multiple problems at once.
Mood Board and Style Tile
Before moving to digital wireframes I changed direction to focus on branding. This process required full-scale branding which started with a mood board to get a good start on this process.To create a brand for this app I created a style tile for branding guidelines.
Wireframes
Finally, I started the digital wireframes, This eventually lead to a prototype.
OUTCOME
Final Thoughts
Through this process, I learned a lot about building apps and being a product designer. I learned how to process ideas and conduct research while putting those insights into design. This process showed me that all the work that you do before even starting the sketching phase. All of the work before creating deliverables are extremely important, this sets up the design phase with a great foundation to be able to create a better product earlier. An app is never the best it can be, it can always be better, but with research and insights in the early stages, you can skip a lot of the first bad iterations from the start.
Next: Pantry app
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