OnBoard
Bus route recommendations from doorstep to destination - filtered by walk-ability.
Bus route recommendations from doorstep to destination - filtered by walk-ability.
As the public city bus network continues to grow, there is an increasing need to provide thousands of commuters with a mobile app. Issues of inaccurate arrival times, overwhelming timetables, and confusion at the bus stop were the client's main concerns.
The goal of this project was to solve the problem of bus transit confusion and to provide users with the information needed to be in control of their travel plans.
UX Designer
User Research, Information Architecture, Visual Design, Prototyping + Testing
Spring 2020
OnBoard is a city bus app dedicated to providing real-time details on the bus route that is right for your travels. Instead of tackling the entire bus system, users are provided with route options specific to their starting point and destination. With real-time mobile updates, users are able to pivot to a new route if they experience bus delays or overcrowding.
This is the city's first attempt at creating an app for the bus. In favor of expediency, the city transportation department is looking to address only the main issues at this time.
The city public bus network has a bus timetable posted online and at each stop. Timetables are typically inaccurate because they don't account for delays.
Due to expansion, numerous bus routes stop at the same bus stop. Users are confused about which bus is arriving at their stop.
74 participants
Criteria:
16 questions
Survey Trends
Will my bus be delayed?
Is this timetable up to date?
Which bus is arriving?
What route does this bus take?
Is this my best option?
Will I be safe?
After selecting and interviewing 4 people from the target demographic, context was added to the survey trends:
Lives in the city
Rides everyday
Primary User
Lives in the city
Rides 3-5x/week
Primary User
Lives near the city
Rides 1-5x/month
Secondary User
Lives outside the city
Rides 1-5x/month
Tertiary User
"I understand that delays happen. But if you tell me the ETA, I can make better decisions."
" I don't need to know the whole route. I only care about where I'm going."
"I hate feeling like I might have made the wrong choice - and it's going to cost me!"
Amy works hard, loves living in the city and looks for any opportunity to maximize her time.
Goals:
Frustrations:
Rob enjoys going into the city for work but he finds public transportation to be frustrating.
Goals:
Frustrations:
Ramona recently had knee surgery and wants to get back to her life with minimal struggle.
Goals:
Frustrations:
People who rely on the public city bus for some or all of their travel around the city.
The primary user rides the bus at least 3-5 times per week and therefore would benefit the most from the app and offers the largest potential ROI for the public city bus system.
The expansion of the public city bus system has resulted in user confusion and a lack of confidence.
Without a mobile presence, static bus timetables are not reflective of real time delays.
The user needs real-time bus information and confidence that they have chosen and boarded the correct bus.
1.
Develop a mobile solution with real-time updates on bus arrivals and departures.
2.
Provide clarity on bus options, bus arrival times, and bus routes from a specific bus stop.
3.
Give the user confidence in their bus route selection and travel schedule.
4.
Develop a MVP to test and validate for immediate implementation.
Created in Figma, this prototype was made to test the flow and functionality of the app. (Color and map images are placeholders at this stage).
5 participants were asked to complete a bus route using the lo-fi prototype.
Lives in the city
Rides everyday
Primary User
Lives in the city
Rides 3-5x/week
Primary User
Lives near the city
Rides 3-5x/week
Primary User
Lives near the city
Rides 1-5x/month
Secondary User
Lives in suburbs
Rides 1-5x/month
Tertiary User
Henry completed the route but his feelings of inadequacy are the result of a flaw in the prototype's information architecture.
The user makes route choices - each choice building on the choice. If a wrong choice is made, the user must go back and fix it.
Accuracy is the responsibility of the user.
The user tells the app where it wants to go and where they would like to start. The app filters the users options.
Accuracy is the responsibility of the app.
The new user flow takes the positive attributes of current navigation apps and applies them to the public bus system.
onBoard is in direct reference to the app’s primary function - riding the bus.
The logo is simple and bold, referencing the app name by placing the “o” literally on the “B”.
The color palette is simple, analogous blues and grays because the city already has assigned city bus colors. City bus colors must be incorporated in the design for system continuity.
#0A60FF
#0044C3
#002975
#BDC0C8
#8C8F97
#4C5059
Bus 155
#B13DD8
Bus J14
#6B00AC
Bus 124
#FF6A6A
Bus 151
#CC3366
Bus 20
#3BA692
Bus 56
#6699FF
Bus 157
#36CDFF
Bus 60
#B13DD8
Bus 59
#82C51E
Poppins / Bold / 24pt
#4C5059
Poppins / Semibold / 18pt
#4C5059
Poppins / Semibold / 18pt
City Bus Color
Poppins / Regular / 16pt
#4C5059
Poppins / Regular / 16pt
City Bus Color
OnBoard is a city bus app dedicated to providing real-time details on the bus route that is right for your travels.
Route recommendations are filtered by your full trip - doorstep to destination - and walk-ability.
Taking the bus is more than getting from bus stop A to bus stop B.
Enter your end destination and starting point to view your filtered route options - including travel to and from the bus stop.
Set perimeters for the total distance you are willing and able to walk to and from the bus stop.
Choose your real-time bus departure and arrival times with the expanded route card. Collapse the route card to view the map.
With the bus arrival countdown, there is confidence in knowing which bus is approaching your stop.
After boarding the bus, a countdown will begin to your destination bus stop arrival.
Alerts are given when your bus is "approaching" your final bus stop.
Testing the app in the real world is crucial to validating its ability to mitigate the stress and confusion of riding the bus.
Building a MVP that can be taken on an actual route will illuminate our blind spots before we go too far down the wrong path.
The navigation and real-time features of the app need to be discussed with the developers and other relevant team members.
Open communication with these teams could also present additional function insights.
The "Account" page of the app was not necessary for initial launch but does pose opportunity to make the app more usable.
User research and client collaboration could add value and boost user adoption.
