OnTime Transit

Responsive Design

A unique end-to-end experience exploring responsive and inclusive design that solves current government problems.

2021

OBJECTIVE

Design and prototype an end-to-end digital interactive product that helps provide a solution to our core government problem. The group and I decided to create a product to improve mobility for people who use public transportation in their day to day life. In 2018, Americans took 9.9 billion trips on public transportation (American Public Transportation Association). As people rely on public transportation, we discovered there wasn’t a reliable and accurate tool to help get to their destination at an affordable price.

The goal was to clearly articulate and define our product, create low and high fidelity prototypes, learn about responsive web design, conduct research, and learn about the iterative design process. We then translated our design on all important iOS screens (iPhone, iPad, desktop).

PROJECT CONCEPT

The concept of OnTime Transit was to create a safe and reliable public transportation app since Denver transportation system severely lacks in efficacy and reliability. 

The app will be a public transportation planner that shows you live updates, nearby RTD stops and other features to ensure your trip is efficient and safe. These live updates would include your current location, local stops, service and time announcements. Another important aspect of this app is a “Share Status” feature. This is where you can send your current location and trip updates to your chosen contacts to ensure safety. As we live in a tech-forward society, we will be able to personalize their account and have a quicker experience by creating regular routes and a digital wallet.  

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

  • On average, on a scale of 1-10, our interviewee's uses public transportation 5 times out of the week.

  • All of our interviewee's had said yes to traveling alone

  • On a scale of 1-10, we asked how safe they felt, they rated an average of 5.5.

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

The majority of our interviewee's said their biggest complaint when it comes to public transportation was their unreliability when it comes to scheduling and an un-updated app, and their lack of infrastructure. We discovered that all of our users are frequent public transportation users and heavily relies on it, so when they are not on time or the information provided is unreliable, it heavily impacts their schedule and their day-to-day. Because public transportation has proven to be more unreliable, the interviewee's would plan ahead and schedule room for error.

We also asked if the interviewee’s use apps and if they do what's something the app could improve on. We discovered that majority of them said it would be beneficial if they monitored delays, provided a reliable schedule, and provided a less complex route like Google maps often provides. 

In addition, we asked if our interviewees if they ever need to purchase tickets and that process is like for them. Majority of them said no, but when they do, they find that it was a difficult process to show their ticket which they purchased online. 

Lastly, we asked our interviewees if they ever felt unsafe riding alone. Our woman interviewers described the experience at times unsafe, whereas, our male interviewers felt safe enough to travel. 

RESEARCH

"Public transportation is my primary mode of transportation to and from classes so, when the schedules are unreliable, it can greatly impact my schedule and leave me in unsafe spaces waiting for buses."

— Noelle A.

PERSONA

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

LO-FI DESIGN

HIGH FIDELITY WIREFRAMES

INCLUSIVE DESIGN

FEATURE DESIGN

For my feature, I took lead on the wallet and profile feature. We felt like these were integral parts when it comes to a transit app because it helps the user personalize their account and provide an easier, quicker experience when it comes to ticketing and purchasing. It was noticed that some of the public transportation riders either had digital tickets, had their pass in a lanyard, or pulled our their physical card in their backpack/purse. 

FEATURE APP DESIGN

FEATURE WEBSITE DESIGN

FEATURE TABLET DESIGN

But, it was noted that it was a hassle to pull out a physical college pass in a crowded area. Since we're always on our phone, why couldn't our college pass be electronically with us. In addition, I focused on making sure this section of my feature included all information the user required when getting on an RTD. 

PROJECT RETROSPECTIVE

The most challenging aspect of this project was creating a cohesive product and making sure everyone on the team understood the product. Because this class is online, it was our responsibility to contact our group and make sure that everyone was on the same page. Although we had many video call sessions, it was still hard to understand some design choices. But, we managed to create a cohesive product where everyone understands each feature and function.

Our product design was affected by our research because we wanted to provide the most information to enhance the service reliability, but we wanted to make sure that it wasn't information overload. It was realized how important the trip and the journey was to anyone who uses the public transportation. It’s also important to note the team goal was to make sure that the app was a reliable source where you could personalize the users journey for a better experience. As a result, our research showed us how unreliable the local app and bus scheduling was. The current app doesn't indicate if the bus is going to be late and for how long. So we wanted to make sure that this information was relayed to our users because it will help our user plan for a better trip. 

Responsive design is challenging. It's more than just translating your design from an iOS app to a website. There are different ways users come in contact and communicate with the information on these different screens. We tried to maximize the screens benefits like how the website has room for more information compared to an app, but the app provides a more in depth quick and easy experience for on the go. 

The most valuable lesson I learned was how a good group of hard working people truly impacts the overall product. I had such a great time with my teammates and we really worked together the best that we could to deliver a product that was going to enhance the public transportation experience. We were communicative, supportive, and creative.