WanderBus
A mobile bus transit app service the thousands of commuters in the city by using live tracking to provide accurate arrival and travel times. It allows users to identify what bus is coming and when it is arriving and clearly displays key information that a rider needs in order to experience a seamless journey.
Overview
Problem
Due to expansion, numerous bus routes have been recently added and many of those routes stop at the same bus stop. Riders do not know when the next bus will arrive at each stop and therefore how much time they have to get to the bus stop. The city needs a mobile bus transit app to be designed that will service the thousands of users in the city by using live tracking to provide accurate arrival and travel times.
Solution
I designed a map-based bus navigation app that tells the user exactly when their bus is arriving and when to leave, along with a live updating bus schedule for each stop.
My Role
UX Research, UX/UI Design
Project Length
4 weeks
Tools
Figma
Research
Competitive Analysis
I began by gathering information about existing apps that people used to travel to begin to understand what features would help create a solution.
Google Maps
Pros:
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Map based app, directions are not confusing
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Accurate and up-to-date map data
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Detailed information on businesses and points of interest
Cons:
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Too much information and options for only bus users (ex. Food recommendations)
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Limited accessibility features
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Moovit
Pros:
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Directions to bus stop
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Shows all next and arriving bus times
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Accessibility features for people with disabilities to use bus
Cons:
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Didn't highlight travel issues
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also a little too much information for just bus commuters
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Survey
Using information I gathered about other transit apps, I formed a survey to gain insight into what users were struggling with during bus travel and what features would be helpful.
Insights:
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most users experienced delays commuting by bus and were often late to their destination
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participants could not trust the posted bus schedule because of constant delays
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default app is google maps, or map based apps
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this survey was too broad in scope and did not really address the participants experience using apps, only their experiences riding the bus so I had to adjust my interview questions to be more specific to be useful for designing an app
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most participants were not actually regular bus commuters so their frustrations were not as detailed as a commuter but delays were common across the board
User Interviews
Based on the surveys, I interviewed three of the survey participants who used the bus regularly to commute and asked them questions specifically about how they traveled efficiently using an app, what apps they used and why they liked them, and what features they were missing that would be helpful.
Insights:
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Main pain point: missing the bus due to inaccurate arrival times and a constantly changing ETA leading to being delayed for everything and an inaccurate GPS
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Many different apps would give conflicting information
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All three preferred a map based app and not just the written instructions
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Need more simplicity and straightforwardness in the route
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They wanted a way to accurately check the delay
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The most important things were how long the journey would be total and when the bus would arrive
"I'm always late to class because the bus sometimes decides not to come"
"I need a general view on how long my entire journey will take not just the bus"
Creating Personas
From information gathered through research, I then created two personas that best fit the profile of the general user of bus tracking app: A woman in her early 20's that works and is in school and needs to get to her appointments at both on time and an older teacher who needs affordable transit. Based on insights from these personas, I then mapped out a user experience map to analyze a users feelings and needs while taking the bus without an app solution.
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Experience Mapping
User Flow
Through my research and analysis, I created a simple user flow that a user would go through that would address the problem of not being able to accurately see a bus' arrival time while trying to reach a destination. I initially tried to add many more features (such as an alert system) but pared it down to simple tasks that the user could achieve and then created a basic site map of the app based on those decisions.
Site Map
Sketches
Wireframes
High Fidelity Prototype
Usability Testing
Tasks Given
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enabling GPS
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​sign in
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navigate a route to school
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be able to see when the bus is coming and when to leave for it
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select the saved route to school and go through navigation
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search and see the bus schedule for Washington & State
Test Results
​Main Issues
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A lot of buttons tempted the users to press on them (ex. the red exit button, the labeled stops on the home map screen)
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Differentiating what the different times to leave or wait for meant was difficult
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Seeing a visual of the route before starting would be helpful
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the flow using the back button was sometimes broken if user navigated to a page using the nav bar
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selected icons on the nav bar could have more contrast
Positive feedback:
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Tasks were easily accomplished because the flow of the app was intuitive
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easy navigation around the app using the nav bar
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Final Product
Using all the feedback and usability testing results, the app went through a few ​more iterations implementing feedback where it was helpful, and keeping others in mind for future iterations. Some major changed I made were:
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switching the order of how a user navigates a route and adding a preview of the route so that the user sees a preview, then the map navigation and can access the step by step directions if needed
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changing the sizing and colors of icons to be more contrasted and less likely to be clicked accidentally
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fixing the user flow between pages where they were redundant
Final Thoughts
This was my first big solo UX project, and I learned a lot just from going through every step of research, mapping, wireframing and prototyping, and testing and the journey has definitely made me learn a lot about not only the design process but my own thought process as a designer
Lessons Learned
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not every piece of feedback needs to be implemented because just like how we cannot assume to speak for a users needs, one singular user cannot speak for every other user's needs. applying every suggestion only makes for a cluttered and overly complicated design
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documenting the progress not only shows improvement in the design, but also shows where possible suggestions were already attempted and why they did not work
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staying within the scope of the important user stories and problems really helps to keep the project on track (even in the research survey and interview phase)
Future Iteration Ideas:
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an alerts feature and a more clear way to save routes
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a way to click on the bus icons on the screen to take the user directly to the bus schedule of that station
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figure out a better way to display a progress bar on the map screen