The first challenge of the UI / UX design course pre-work with Ironhack is about design thinking. As a practical example, I will analyze the functionality of the app and, following protocol, I will think of desirable solutions for the best functioning of the app.
About
“Citymapper is a public transit app and mapping service which displays transport options, usually with live timing, between any two locations in a supported city. It integrates data for all urban modes of transport, including walking, cycling and driving, in addition to public transport. “
Wikipedia
The Issue
Despite the ease of finding multiple transportation options on one app, users have problems buying tickets. When you request a route, you can’t buy the ticket for that trip on the screen that opens. Another issue is that the ticket may come in paper or plastic form, which creates some confusion.
Research:
My sample consisted of a small group of 5 people, between the ages of 25–35, who live in the city of Berlin and constantly travel elsewhere (and therefore use this type of app). The interview was done remotely and 5 open-ended questions were asked. I used Google form to assist in compiling the answers.
Result of the research:
I was able to raise some commonalities within the responses acquired.
1 — The interviewees find Germany a very bureaucratic and complex place to understand. Using an app that generates confusion increases the feeling of frustration and easily these people said they would look for other sites to make the purchase.
2 — The app’s colors are not pleasant. There are too many buttons and information on the screen.
3 — The payment option is confusing.
Prototype
After my brainstorming I obviously thought of a more intuitive way to get the user to the payment interface. One thing that kept me thinking after the results of my research is that this application could offer something interesting to its users, since there are competitors, who can offer similar services.
One suggestion would be to do something similar to what already exists in some European cities, which is to present the customer who buys a weekly or monthly ticket with some tourist attraction.
This was my first challenge as a UX/UI designer and what I try to do is to add elements of my self-study to this exercise. What I realize is that I am still learning the step-by-step and learning how to use the tools and concepts. But I also realize that it is intuitive work and with practice, the step by step gets clearer.
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