Ironhack’s Prework: BradPerlman_Challenge1
Design Thinking: Citymapper
To kick things off with Ironhack’s UX/UI Prework, the first challenge is design thinking as we check out the Citymapper app. So with that being said, let’s do a quick rundown of what exactly Citymapper is.
Citymapper is a transportation application that provides users with real-time travel options which enables them to easily navigate around their area. This app was founded by Azmat Yusuf, a former Google employee, in 2011 who initially wanted to solve a transportation problem that existed in London. Citymapper became a huge success and is now used globally. In fact, it provides services to 50 million users across 80 cities. Citymapper’s mission statement is, “Cities are complicated. We use the power of mobile and open transport data to help humans survive and master them.”
Now that we know a little more about the app, it’s time to dive into it. As someone who was unfamiliar with Citymapper, the first thing I did was download the app and check it out for myself. By doing so, I was able to learn about the different actions the user has access to from screen to screen, and I was able to note what felt good, what felt bad, and made some mental notes of possible changes that can be made. Once I had a good feeling for the app, it was time to jot down some interview questions, as the next steps were to interview five users.
The Interview Process and Notes
The interviews were conducted with five different users who live in Boston to get a better understanding of how they interact with the app and to track down their pain-points. For this, I started by asking them questions that became more of a dialogue. Once the questions had been answered, it was then time to get the app in the hands of the users.
To keep things simple and to the point, I set up a couple scenarios for the users to complete as they used the app. Throughout this process, I encouraged them to talk aloud as they used Citymapper to hear what they were thinking with each action they performed. In doing so, I was able to identify some key problems that they had. Of the issues gathered from the interviews, the biggest pain-points were these three:
· Users dislike being redirected to 3rd party apps to buy tickets/rides.
· There isn’t a way for users to view all of their tickets on the app itself.
· The train lines show where the train is on the list of stops, but not visually on the map. This is confusing for users who aren’t familiar with the different stops.
Seeing as the main issues revolve around user accessibility, I decided to focus on the first two pain-points. The reason for this is because if users are able to purchase their tickets/rides within the app itself, they should also be able to view them in the app as well. Therefore, the goal of this is to create a more fluid user experience.
“Brad, but how?!”, you may be asking…
In order to achieve this goal, users will now be able to link their Uber, Lyft, and mTicket accounts to their account within Citymapper. To do this, all the user needs to do is go to their account settings and then simply add the appropriate accounts that they wish to link. Once complete and the accounts are synced, users will simply be able to book rides and purchase tickets all within the Citymapper app. Additionally, they will be able to view their purchased tickets (QR codes included) and booked rides. This takes away the redirection and results in a more immersive, yet accessible user experience. Below are some paper prototypes of how something like this can work.
Conclusion and Key Takeaways
In order to confirm these changes made sense, I brought them back to the same users I previously interviewed. By showcasing these prototypes and walking the users through them, I was able to get some valuable feedback and verification. While it may not be the perfect solution, I believe that it is a step in the right direction and would love to iterate more on it in the future. Overall, Citymapper is an awesome app and with some tweaks, I think it can be even better and more accessible for all users!
Some things I learned throughout this design challenge are:
· Be familiar with the product at hand. It’s important to learn firsthand at what the product does right, as well as it can give you some ideas on how to improve things.
· Encourage interviewees to speak aloud as they use the product. This enables us to further understand their thoughts and actions and will allow us to pinpoint their pain-points.
· Not everyone sees things exactly as you do and vice-versa. As designers, we need to be patient, empathic, and understanding of users. Don’t expect users to be professionals with apps — our job is to make products intuitive and accessible to all users.
I really enjoyed this design challenge and look forward to the next steps on the road to Ironhack!
