UrbanGo: Design Thinking

Client

UrbanGo is a public transit and mapping app that allows it’s users to find the quickest and cheapest public and private transport routes.

UrbanGo streamlines and simplifies the journey of getting you where you want to go. Pulling time tables, ticket pricing, and real time notifications to provide the user a clear path to their destination hassle free.

Challenge

Though UrbanGo offers a wide variety of transportation options; it doesn’t ease the processing of buying different public transport tickets through different channels. As such, a feature is needed in order to remove these hassles and improve the user experience.

EMPATHIZE

The ticket purchase feature would simplify the process of purchasing tickets for your desired route of travel. Wether it’s for local commuting or international travel; it would ease the minds of all travelers alike. Creating and improving this feature would allow UrbanGo to stay relevant with competitors like: Uber, Lyft, CityMapper, taxi companies, and even other map applications like Google Maps.

Traveling can become stressful for some people, especially with obstacles like language barriers, machine malfunctions, or even negative human interactions. With this new ticket purchasing feature, UrbanGo can help eliminate these stress points and make your experience easier.

- Research & Interviews

In order to better empathize with the users in the interview process, I felt that my interview questions needed to start out broad and become more specific. As the interview progressed, questions would become more centered on key points I wanted to address. Though I would explore further concerns or topics depending on my responses from the interviewee. I want to make the interviewee as comfortable as possible, as I believe this would garner more honest feedback. The interview should turn in to a conversation, rather then bland a one-sided questionnaire.

Below are some example questions used in the interview process:

• How often do you travel?
• What are some of your favorite travel or vacation spots?
• What are some things you like to do when you travel?
• Are you a planner or do you prefer to make choices on a whim?
• What holds more influence over your decisions when traveling, cost or convenience?
• Do you find public transportation as a useful option for travelers?
• Would you, or do you, use public transportations when traveling? If yes, where have have you used public transportation?
• What tools do you use to get around a place you are visiting?
• Are there any apps that you find helpful when traveling?
• Do you use your phone as a viable option to purchase tickets or travel arrangements? If yes, what apps do you use?
• Are there any situations where you’ve purchased a ticket on your phone? Did you find it easy or difficult?

DEFINE

With the responses and information I gathered from the interviews ,I’ve found a few pain points that I would take in account when formulating an idea for the app.

• Payment options: How can pay for tickets easily, especially in other countries; exchange rate worries, and cash handling
• Battery life of the their phone; dead phone
• Hidden costs; visible pricing
• Language barriers/ person to person interaction are stressful
• Step by step instructions; both for buying ticket and where to use it

Though some of these pain points may only apply to some individuals; making the app more accessible will only better enhance the user experience for everyone.

IDEATE

With a clearer grasp on what the problems are, I began to brainstorm options to address the pain points I found in the interview.

-If the user is in another country; the in app purchase would eliminate the hassle of exchange rates and use of foreign currency.

-When search options are loaded; a cost for each option is displayed next to the duration of the route.

-When the ticketing option is selected; you are given multiple ticket options ranging for single use tickets, to multiple use tickets with expiration dates. Depending on what route is selected; this will vary on ticket options.

-Once a ticket purchase has been selected and paid, the ticket can be accessed from the app itself or other ticket apps on your phone; QR code would be used.

-Since some individuals prefer physical tickets; there can be an option to reserve a ticket and pay at a ticket booth. This is also a viable back up incase you misplace your phone or for loss of battery life.

PROTOTYPE

From brainstorming I went in to some rough wireframes to better illustrate what how the process would transpire.

The wireframe truly assisted in better understanding where the answers to the pain points would be addressed or need further modification.

Final Thoughts

In all, I found this challenge provided a better perspective on how to properly empathize with peoples needs. As well as, seeing how there are more problems than just what is provided on the prompt. People have different levels of perspective, and if you make your product more accessible to people at every level, the better product and user experience.