Revo

Revo is a public transportation app that makes public transit convenient
VIEW PROTOTYPE

Product Summary

Revo brings public transportation to the modern era by fashioning more similarly to a ridesharing application. Users receive ETA updates of their bus arrival time, trip specific notification delays, a clean open interface and a straightforward trip planning methodology.
Role:
  • UX/UI Designer
  • UX Researcher
  • Project Manager
Tools:
  • Figma
  • Google Forms
  • Adobe XD
  • Whimsical
Deliverables:
  • User Survey
  • Personas
  • Userflows
  • Market Analysis
  • Wireframes
  • Clickable Prototype
  • Usability Report

Problem/s

Public transportation, namely buses are the most maligned method of travel and are often the bane of existence for the people that have to take it daily. It doesn't have to be this and it shouldn't be this way anymore. Through connecting with daily commuters, weekend warriors or special event riders I was able to outline some key issues that affected everyone.
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Uncertainty around bus arrival
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There are no updates regarding ETA to current destination

Confusing layout of maps & route information

Solution

What seemed the most important based on the shared experiences & thoughts of people that ride public transportation is:
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Updates should be given if something has affected the arrival time of their bus
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Updates should also be given around ETA to current destination.
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Users expect an app to be efficient and to calculate the best route for them given all relevant route information

Discovery

During the discovery phase, I developed a user survey to share with the public and received baseline quantitative and qualitative data about how public transportation was used, by who and what pain points were associated with comparable products like ridesharing apps. This data below helped inform the design decisions in the development of the application.

User Survey

In my user survey, I wasn't just interested in what was wrong with public transportation from a user perspective, but also how people used technology to get around and what were the circumstances that they used public transportation.
Rideshare App Use
Inefficiency Concern
ETA Helpfullness

Key Takeaway/s

  • 48% of participants said they primarily used public transportation for pragmatic reasons; saving money (26%), daily commute (9%) & airport travel (13%)
  • 35% of our participants had used an app to take a bus versus 96% had used an app for rideshare services.
  • The concern that affected the most participants regarding public transportation by amount of responses was efficiency; waiting at stops, confusion with bus arrival, etc. (83%)
  • 70% of users used public transportation monthly or never.
  • 96% of users shared that real time data of bus arrivals would be very helpful (70%) to helpful (26%).

Persona/s

The user survey & interview data made it apparent that there were two primary types users; those that relied on public transportation for every day travel needs & those that used public transportation as an auxiliary option for social activities, special events or trips to the airport.
Roy Pendergrass
Programmer / Business Owner
Goals
Efficient & affordable travel
Being able to plan his life with easily accessible information with a minimization of unknowns
Access to real time information regarding transportation options
Frustrations
Roy has pretty severe vision issues that even with the aid of glasses makes it hard to see, so rideshare services are not an option for travel
The guesswork involved with waiting at a stop and wondering if the bus coming is your bus or one on a different route
Buses being delayed and there being no way of knowing if something has happened or if you should make alternative plans
Ashley Legoss
Grad Student | Atlanta, GA
Goals
When money is tight, Ashley wants to be able to get on a bus and go to class instead of paying $20 for an Uber from work
Reduce the amount of time spent waiting at a bus stop with friends while going to a big music festival in the city
Time and money are important, and Ashley would like to have more of both
Frustrations
Sometimes waiting at a bus stop feels unsafe because of people catcalling
Being late to class or work because she decided to take the bus and there was no update about delays
The maps for bus lines and stops are confusing and knowing when to get on or off a bus always seems unclear

Competitive Analysis

The user surveys and interviews revealed that the primary competition of a public transportation app wasn't other public transportation companies, it was also rideshare applications and google maps. I completed a SWOT analysis for four different companies to see what was working, what wasn't and where Revo could stand out.
Lyft Route DIsplay

LYFT

Strengths

  • Market ubiquitty
  • Clean and straightforward way of navigating directions
  • Live updates of driver location
  • ETA of arrival to final destionation from start to finish

Weaknesses

  • Inconsistency of ride experience
  • Fluctuating prices
  • Lack of mobility options for those navigating rideshares with disabilities.
  • The difficulty of resolving issues/glitches through the company

Opportunities

  • Standardization of price setting for increased customer value.
  • Accessibility for all potential users
  • Consistent schedule of transportation should lead to improved user experience
  • Not a true competitor for users not interested in supporting a problematic pay structure of drivers being contractors and not employees.

Threats

  • Lyft is the more affordable of the two major rideshares in the US and has a positive company culture.
  • The immediacy of being able to get a ride whenever you want one without waiting that will go directly to a location
  • A rating system that encourages better driver performance and positive ridership

Google Maps

Strengths

  • Google-bility, if someone is uncertain of how to get to a place or any piece of knowledge they will Google it.
  • The vast amount of information that Google is able to use to give up to date travel information
  • People associate Google Maps with a certain level of infallibility, this is the benchmark standard for figuring out travel options

Weaknesses

  • Universality means it that it doesn't cater to any particular user as Google is more interested in obtaining information; hence the ads for Lyft & Uber when displaying travel options
  • It doesn't actually provide a travel service (it is invested in Uber), so users only rely on Google Maps indirectly for options
  • Information display overload (check out that screen!)

Opportunities

  • A cleaner and more direct route option would place less cognitive load on users to make travel decisions
  • A stronger focus on a subset transportation needs should lead to a better & more personalized user experience
  • Users want a travel app to make life easier and make decisions for them, not inundate them with minutiae.

Threats

  • The shear amount of resources Google has available to create transportation disruption is unfathomable.
  • The inherent difficulty in changing habits of potential users to another service that doesn't have the same authority as Google Maps.
Google Maps Route Display
Moovit Route Display

Moovit

Strengths

  • Clean interface, focuses primarily on public transportation.
  • Provides updates from relevant transit authoritities
  • Focus on accessibility through partnership with non-profits

Weaknesses

  • Lack of potential user awareness
  • Route display is text based and does not give the user a map to coincide with potential route options
  • No real time alerts for when buses will arrive or notifications specific to current routes

Opportunities

  • A map based route option would make route choice more clear
  • In application notifications regarding specific route would help users make more informed transportation choices
  • A live update of bus locations with predicted ETA would help with users uncertainty of bus travel

Threats

  • One of a very few transportation apps that actively blends rideshare approachability and UX with Google Maps style interface

Define

Based on the Discovery phase it became apparent that moving forward it would be in the best interest of the user to craft a public transportation application that was more similar to rideshare apps with which users were more familiar.
Based on this we developed our userflows and wireframes with what both groups shared was the most efficient (if expensive way) of getting around, rideshare applications. By utilizing this direction we honed in on what works for our users about transportation as opposed to re-creating the wheel in the mental models for a new sort of service. Our userflows and wireframes were subject to participant testing as well as feedback from a rotating team of professional UX designers as well as graphic designers.

Sketch/es

The wireframes I developed feature an open user interface that emphasizes the purpose of the app, getting from point A to point B with minimal interruptions. The ability to review a ride experience was something that I thought would be powerful in shaping a positive user experience for public transportation users and would enable them to share their experience of bad service to affect change.
Login Sketch
Menu Sketch
Notification Sketch
Review Sketch

Wireframe/s

The wireframes I developed feature an open user interface that emphasizes the purpose of the app, getting from point A to point B with minimal interruptions. The ability to review a ride experience was something that I thought would be powerful in shaping a positive user experience for public transportation users and would enable them to share their experience of bad service to affect change.
Home Page Wireframe
Notification Wireframe
Collapsible Menu
Review Screen
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Development

The wireframes & sketches from the previous stage of development were useful in exploring an open concept for the application. in the development phase I iterated further on the previous wireframes. The result was a clean & functional high fidelity prototype that is minimal & modern in its execution .
Onboarding Development
Slideout Development
Navigation Development
Route Selection Development

Prototyping

The final result of prototyping was a high fidelity mock-up that addressed every issue identified by users in our surveys, user interviews and competitive analysis.
  • A system for notifications that enables users to adjust their transportation options
  • Real time tracking information for when their bus will arrive coupled with a live map marker.
  • Extraneous route and map information is foregone in favor of an on map route selection option.
  • Users can leave reviews of rides they have taken and leave feedback about the application to improve ongoing service & provide data surrounding experience.
Prototype

Delivery

My high fidelity prototype was ready to be tested by real life users. The usability testing confirmed that participants were indeed fans of a more modern approach to bus travel than what was readily available in the market.

Usability Testing

The participants were informed that we would be testing out a prototype design for a new public transportation application.The participants were encouraged to share their thoughts and feelings out loud during the course of the usability tests. The moderator was also informed to share that he was a third party consultant for the project and not directly tied with the project at all, so as to reduce any desirability bias on the part of the participants.

Users responded favorably to our prototype and their main areas of feedback revolved around legibility of the font. All users completed each task in under a minute with no orientation to the application prior to testing.

There were five tasks for the usability test Tasks we had the participants complete
  • Create an account through the onboarding process.
  • Tell me where your bus is currently located.
  • If your bus is over five minutes away, choose a new route and let me know how long the new bus will take
  • Check your notifications, if the current bus is over 10 minutes away choose a new route.
  • Can you find the home button? What categories popup when you press the three horizontal lines?
Usability Testing Report

Outcome/s

Through the usability testing, I was able to confirm what the user surveys and user interviews were speaking to in the discovery phase. Users want to be able to rely on their chosen transportation option in order to more effectively focus on what is important to them, not waiting, not guessing and not figuring out a complex puzzle of lines and times.

Lesson/s

This was my first project as a UX designer. I learned on a foundational level the intentional effort and process that drives new innovation in the tech world and that a process driven design is integral to staying on oriented to the vast amount of work to be done.
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Even with a strong background in research, psychology and counseling I'm always learning new things that amaze me about humans and our thought process. Through this project I also learned that users may support actions or behaviors that they view as pro-social, but that it does not necessarily apply to to their own personal behavior. This is important to understand when creating working on new projects that have high positive regard from potential users, but may not actually lead to widespread use.

Jonathan Canales

UX Designer

Did you come here looking for a UX designer that had a varied and dynamic work experience that could go from holding a space of deep empathy with users to working through a processes methodically, while also eagerly learning new skills to apply to future projects?

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Designed by Jonathan Canales