What are the main problems?

This post is about the process I went through to find a solution to a fictional problem as part of the pre-work for the Ironhack UX/UI Design bootcamp.

The public transit and mapping startup UrbanGo has launched a product which tackles a major problem of urban mobility by offering the quickest and cheapest public and private transport routes to their users. However numerous people are complaining about the amount of public transport tickets they have to purchase through different channels to get from A to B.

To have a better understanding about the daily struggles these users are facing, I interviewed 5 people from different ages and backgrounds who are using public transportation on a daily basis. Generally one can say that the longer the distance from A to B, the more likely customers are going to use an online platform or an app, as it’s easier for them to compare prices of various competitors online. However, the majority of my interviewees have been complaining about bad user experiences of major company’s applications, which were way too confusing and complicated to use as the pages were to complex and packed with too much information. They also pointed out that some ticket options aren’t even available online. Hence they had to look out for a ticket machine or even go to the station to be able to get them. In addition there were complaints about the struggle to have to browse through individual channels in order to compare fares of different competitors and purchase each ticket individually.

To tackle the pain points these customers are addressing I wanted to creature a feature that simplifies the process of buying multiple tickets as much as possible. I think that a very clean interface is mandatory, as the majority of my interviewees have been complaining about it. A simple interface with less information would be more straight-forward, cause less confusion and therefore be a better user experience. In addition, I think it would be great to include a feature which not only compares the prices of different competitors but also enable the option to purchase all the tickets directly through UrbanGo. Hence it would be convenient to have all the purchased tickets stored digitally in a wallet inside the application which you can access easily anytime you need them.

Here are some photos of my paper prototype design.
// Post-its have been used to mimic pop-up windows //

Overall, I have found it very interesting to get to know further insides about the daily struggles of each person when it comes to purchasing public transportation tickets and how different every experience is. I would have expected more similarities and was surprised about the variety of challenges people are facing. Especially in this case I was surprised that younger people I have interviewed have been using ticket automats more often than older. This could have been an exception and obviously can’t be generalized but it just shows how important it is not to be judgemental and pay attention to each individual story.

Related posts:

Is our data really protected and how its been used the truth unveiled. Data has been the most important part of our life. We generate data consciously or unconsciously whether that’s physical and…

As some of you may know, I used to live in Queens pre-pandemic. I actually moved out in 2019, so I managed to miss all the craziness that happened in 2020 and still going on today. Last week, I had…

So there you are at the Maneuver Captains Career Course (MCCC), a newly minted Infantry Captain whose career has consisted of serving either within an IBCT or SBCT formation. You’re halfway complete…