The client
UrbanGo is a public transit and mapping startup based in Silicon Valley. Their goal is to solve the problems of urban mobility by offering the quickest and cheapest public and private transport routes to their users.
The problem
Although the current product of UrbanGo already solves some of the main problems of the urban mobility, there is one pain point for many users: the different amount of public transport tickets the users have to purchase. Moreover, it can be really difficult when you have to queue at machines that don’t necessarily work, or when you are abroad and don’t necessarily understand how transport works.
The Challenge
UrbanGo already developed a mobile application for its users. In this mobile app, the users select a starting point and a destination, and the app provides different multimodal routes with the estimated time and the cost of them Even if the application offers particularly innovative possibilities, notably the possibility of making journeys with several modes of transport and indicating the costs, there is still a problem that needs to be solved: the purchase of tickets, which is considered obsolete for most users.
The client’s competitors
Google maps and Apple Maps are the best known and most used applications
DESIGN THINKING
1.Empathize
During our interviews, I pointed out that it was necessary to look beyond the current pandemic situation, as people do not use transport at all as they used to because of home working, curfews and sometimes confinement. So they reminisced about their lives before Covid 19. In addition, people have not been travelling abroad for some time now. It was an exercise of introspection tinged with nostalgia for most of them.
I interviewed 6 people aged between 27 and 37, all living in metropolitan areas (Paris, Brussels and Rennes). Most of them own a bicycle and like to use it when the weather is good. In addition, they all appreciate the fact that they can travel on foot if they are not under time pressure.
In general, public transport does not have a good reputation, especially in Paris where it is synonymous with crowds and insalubrity. A feature that allows them to drastically limit their travel time is therefore a necessity, which is great because it is already present in the application. However, ticket purchasing is still a problem that needs to be addressed, as it is inconvenient and time consuming.
During the interviews I always tried to find out more about people’s opinions and let them express themselves whenever they felt like it.
Here are some of the questions I regularly asked:
- Can you tell me a bit about yourself (what is your job, your situation…)?
- What transport do you usually use to get around your city? For what purpose?
- How does the way you use transport change between weekdays and weekends?
- How do you buy your tickets? What do you think about it?
- Which season tickets do you have to get around? What do you pay for in a more punctual way?
- Do you prefer paper tickets, cards, or 100% digital? Why this choice?
- What do you think about being able to discover modes of transport that you would not necessarily have thought about? (Bicycles, boats, trams, scooters…)
- What do you think of combining several modes of transport to discover, visit or simply get around a city?
- Which applications do you use the most to get around? Why do you use them?
- Do you ever travel abroad? Which means of transport do you usually use first when you arrive?
- When you are abroad, what do you find better and worse about the transport system compared to your current city?
- When you travel abroad, do you have access to the internet?
- Do you have bad experiences when buying tickets in your city? Abroad?
2. DEFINE
- Paper tickets are decried as being a waste of time (purchase at the counter or at automatic terminals which do not necessarily work), and sometimes of money as they are easily lost. They all think it’s something from another time and needs to be changed. They strongly prefers digital.
- Don’t like the idea of combining several modes of transport if this includes additional costs and loss of time in the journey
- Like to walk when they are abroad (it allows them to discover the city better) and do not have time constraints but preferring transport in their daily life because they often have time constraints
- Language barrier abroad and difficulty to understand all the different ways of buying tickets (weekly, weekend or monthly subscriptions…)
- Those travelling as a couple told me that they found it essential to be able to buy two tickets in one go.
- Most of the interviewees used Google Map, Apple Plans or CityMapper
3. IDEATE
It became clear to me very quickly that the digital solutions would take precedence over the paper proposal. After gathering all this information, the idea that seemed most relevant to me was the possibility to buy tickets directly in the application. As the interviewees regularly use this feature, there would probably be no problems of accommodation.
- The application should allow the entire journey to be combined into a single ticket, regardless of the number of different transport modes used for the journey
- Being able to buy several tickets at once also seemed to me to be an interesting feature for people who travel together (couples, friends, families, school trips, companies etc.)
- I found it interesting to have two modes of ticket issuance, firstly the QR code within the application itself, which can be found in the “my tickets” tab with its expiry date, but also the possibility of adding it directly to the phone’s wallet for people who enjoy using it.
4.PROTOTYPING & TEST
My boyfriend is a prankster. He likes to poke around, look at where things can get stuck, click on all the tabs I didn’t think of designing and put me on the spot a bit. That’s why I had him test the prototypes, it allowed me to play down the whole process a bit and to realize that even if it was functional in my eyes, I could definitely have forgotten some essential elements. I was pleased to be able to put my ideas on paper and to see that even with low-fidelity prototypes, it was easy to imagine a more concrete and accomplished feature.
LEARNINGS
Starting on my own, despite my studious interest in the courses and my background as a graphic designer, was very scary. I often felt overwhelmed by all the information despite the methodology. Which way should I go? And here, like this, is it good? I think I got it wrong….Even though I thought I had understood, I realized that I was not assimilating all the information as quickly as I would have liked. The doubts often paralyzed me, so I decided to take my time and go step by step.
The exchanges with the interviewees and the fact that I had my family and friends test this prototype allowed me to take a step back and apply what I had learned. The fact that I could doodle also helped me a lot, coming from an environment where the image is key, I was able to hold on to it in moments of doubt. And I hurt my hand. A lot. Because as a motion designer for 6 years, even the storyboards are done on the Adobe suite and I had forgotten how to hold a pen for a long time.
Trust the method and the users, they’re the key!
