Ironhack Challenge 1: Design Thinking

Nele Groosman
Nov 4 · 6 min read

This post details the process I used to arrive at a solution to a fictional problem as part of the pre-work for the Ironhack UX/UI Design bootcamp.

Image source: Ironhack

UrbanGo is a public transit and mapping startup based in Silicon Valley. Its mission is to simplify urban mobility by offering the quickest and cheapest public and private transport routes to its users. UrbanGo’s mobile app allows users to select a starting point and a destination, and the app provides multimodal routes, along with the estimated time and cost of each.

One pain point reported by users is the different public transport tickets the users have to purchase. Ironhack asked upcoming students to design a solution to the problem. This article describes how I used the “design thinking” processs (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test) to design a payment solution for UrbanGo.

1. Empathize: Understanding the problem

In order to design an appropriate solution, I first set out to better understand the problem itself. My user research consisted of interviewing 5 public transport users whom I interviewed about:

  • which type(s) of public transport they use, both in their home city and while traveling abroad;
  • what influences their decision to use public transport;
  • how much they pay for public transport, both in their home city and while traveling abroad, and which payment method(s) they tend to use;
  • how they determine the correct ticket to purchase and/or know how to buy the best value ticket, especially when in a new city;
  • frustrations of using public transport, especially around payment and navigating purchasing of tickets.
© creativecommonsstockphotos

Findings

I interviewed 5 daily public transport users in European and North American cities who use a variety of public transport means (train, metro, tram, bus) and payment methods (per trip, weekly pass, monthly pass, annual pass).

Most users were quite content with the public transport options available to them, including the payment options, in their home city. They generally seemed to have already figured out the option that works best for them. Many cities already have online or mobile payment systems that work well, or well enough, for most respondents.

Nevertheless, among those who buy weekly, monthly or top up “pay-as-you-go” passes, pain points concerning payment include:

  • needing to queue for ticket machines or at a ticket booth/office
  • having to deal with broken ticket machines, at times
  • frustration at not being able to buy — or top up — their public transit cards online or through their city’s public transport app

For those who used public transport while traveling abroad, respondents noted difficulties navigating ticketing and payment options, especially around knowing which type of ticket to buy, how much the journey will cost ahead of time, and which ticket will be the best value to them.

© creativecommonsstockphotos

2. Define: Select the problem to address

The problem that seemed the most pertinent to address is the hassle associated with figuring out — and purchasing — the correct and best value ticket(s) when traveling.

I decided to focus on the travel market segment because:

  1. This was an area where many respondents expressed confusion and frustration;
  2. Respondents already seeemed knowledgeable and content enough regarding the options available in their home city;
  3. Many cities already have their own online and/or mobile payment systems;
  4. In addition, it could present a new business venture (income stream) for UrbanGo where there seem to be few competitors and quite a need.

3. Ideate: Brainstorm possible solutions

I came up with the following possible ideas:

  1. A proprietary payment system within the UrbanGo app that integrates with existing public transport ticketing systems in all major international systems. The app would generate a unique QR Code that the user simply has to scan at the Users could either top up their UrbanGo ‘wallet’ or have payments directly debited to their bank account.
  2. UrbanGo would present to the user the mobile and electronic payments options possible for the journey selected (e.g. contactless, mobile payments, …). Where possible, UrbanGo would make use of a third-party payment system to facilitate access to each public transport system which has online or mobile ticketing options to buy these directly through the app. In some cases, users would still have to complete additional steps, some of which “offline”.
  3. An “offline” solution that informs users about the possible tickets and payment options available to them. Users would still need to purchase tickets offline, but would be better informed as to what is available. This would be particularly useful while traveling in foreign countries where perhaps the user does not speak the language.

I decided to focus on idea no. 1 as this solution seems the most desirable outcome for a company like UrbanGo because:

  • it would allow users to purchase tickets directly from within the UrbanGo app, mimimizing any additional steps, making users more likely to enjoy using (and continue using) UrbanGo;
  • the payment platform would be proprietary it would provide UrbanGo with an additional source of income, making it a win-win situation for both the user and company.

4. Prototype: Designing a mockup

My paper prototype design is show below.

User Journey

  1. Our user starts planning her trip. She enters her start location, the destination and the time she wishes to start the journey.
    She has the option to filter out certain modes of transport (e.g. include/exclude any mode of transport, minimize walking time, etc.).
  2. The app proposes multiple routes. The recommend option is at the top of the list.
    The user can choose whether to minimize time or cost.
  3. The user selects the journey she wants. The next screen shows the payment options available.
    The Day Pass is presented as the best value for the journey entered (€6.00 vs. €6.50).
  4. She confirms the journey.
  5. The app generates a QR Code for the Day Pass.
    The app shows a reminder that all tickets can be viewed on the bottom menu under ‘My Tickets’ should you were to navigate away from this screen.

Alternatively, the user could decide to purchase each ticket separately.
This may be because he is not sure that he will actually completely the journey, and thus may not ultimately need the daily pass. This can happen if you are a tourist and decide to explore an area instead of continuing on public transport.

Not included in the prototype: The third payment option for users who prefer to purchase physical tickets, or for some reason have issues with their payment method.

5. Test: Test the prototype with (potential) users

This was not included in this exercise for the Ironhack prework.

Reflections

Some reflections and lessons learned through this exercise:

  • User interviews are very valuable and should not be skipped over. If I were completely this exercise “for real”, I would select to interview more diverse users (in terms of their ages, their income levels, and from a larger variety of cities across the world) and more people who use public transport while traveling abroad.
  • It was important to remember that this was a fictional project. I did a bit of research online on mobile payment options in the public transport sector, and immediately came across the ‘reality’ of how each city has its own proprietary ticketing/payment system, and how complex it would actually be for an app to integrate/interact with all of these different systems. Additionally, there seems to be a move towards ‘contactless’ bank card solutions, which many cities are actively working towards, London being the most prominent, with “half of all Tube and rail journeys are now made using tap-and-go” (contactless) Source. I had to remember to stick to the goals of this challenge without getting bogged down by the details / realities.

Thank you for reading! I welcome any and all feedback.

Nele Groosman

Written by

UX/UI Design student at Ironhack Amsterdam | Background in case management apps for health & supply chain projects in Africa, Asia

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