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DoubleMap is a bus tracking application used widely by Indiana University Bloomington students. DoubleMap allows riders to track the exact location of a bus with real-time GPS tracking.
Users can track buses in real time on the map, monitor specific routes and associated stops and can learn about announcements such as delays and re-routing.
Students in Bloomington heavily depend on the public bus transportation system. DoubleMap has been a perquisite to all the inhabitants of the town. Although the application is benevolent, the user interface of the application is frustrating.
New users/ People who are not familiar with the bus routes have a hard time figuring the app out.We are confident that we can solve this problem with astute design solutions and appropriate research. Hence saving the time and effort of all those who actively use the application.
What is Cognitive Walkthrough?
The cognitive walkthrough method is a usability inspection method used to identify usability issues in interactive systems, focusing on how easy it is for new users to accomplish tasks with the system.
Objective:
As we wanted to improve the app for new students, we conducted a Cognitive Walkthrough to ensure that the app was easy to learn.
Takeaway:
Found potential pain points with respect to the journey tracking and understood the system better.
What is Competitor Analysis?
An assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and potential competitors. This analysis provides both an offensive and defensive strategic context to identify opportunities and threats.
Objective:
To compare features offered and interfaces of competitors in the same domain
Takeaway:
Realized some features that are lacking in Doublemap
Google Maps
Advantages:
1. Ability to add journey to your calendar
2. Accurate bus timings
3. Mentions distance from current location to the bus stop
Disadvantages:
1. Does not display location of the bus
2. Does not have information about local monuments.
Moovit
Advantages:
1. Ability to choose starting and destination location.
2. Accurate bus timings.
3. No prior knowledge of bus transit systems is needed.
Disadvantages:
1. Does not display location of the bus
2. Does not show traffic congestions
What is Contextual Inquiry?
It is a method in where we, the researcher observes the user in the course of the user's normal activities and discusses those activities with the user.
Objective:
To follow and observe users on their commute and understand how they use the app to get to their destination and interview them after the completion of their journey.
Participants:
The selected user groups are active users of DoubleMap and could help us understand what problems and frustrations they face.
We recruited a total of 4 participants- 2 domestic students and 2 international students and conducted a protracted contextual inquiry with them.
Takeaway:
1. All the users have, at least once, stood on the wrong side of the road for the bus.
2. First time travellers have no way of knowing where to get down.
3. People do not trusting the app and prefer using alternative methods instead.
4. Users want to know bus conditions and amenities.
5. People fear that they would miss the bus.
6. Users are not aware of the names of the bus stops.
What is Affinity Diagram?
The affinity diagram organized a large number of ideas into their natural relationships from an extensive brainstorming session.
Objective:
To generate, organize, and affiliate information related to the interface and use of Double Map.
Takeaway:
Higher-level problematic themes
Name: Tachina Lee
Age: 21
Gender: Female
Profession: Domestic Student
“I am saving up to buy myself a car but until then I have to use the bus on an everyday basis to get to college.”
Frustrations:
1. Ends up missing her bus a lot because of the lag or because of the notification system
2. Needs to know the state of the bus especially during this pandemic
Needs:
1. An efficient alert system
2. Information on bus condition
Takeaway Theme 1:
Anxiety and panic before Journey
Problem:
Users are having trouble getting to the bus stops on time and have to constantly be on their phones to check for the bus arrival out of the fear that they might miss the bus.
What participants said
“I have a constant fear that I am going to miss the bus and end up getting to the stop early”
“I get nervous if the bus does not move on the map and keep my phone screen on until I get into the bus”
Recommendation 1:
We envision a coherent alert system to be effective in solving the problem.
1. Alert assistance before the journey
2. Alert assistance on the journey to get off the bus at the right stop.
Current Design:
Proposed Design:
Takeaway Theme 2:
Reliance on alternative apps and methods
Problem:
Users rely on Google maps to check bus schedules and set reminders on their phones. Some prefer to walk so that they don’t miss class. They have to use multiple apps to ensure they don’t miss the bus.
What participants said
“I tend to use other apps to check the bus arrival time rather than knowing minutes left on DoubleMap”
“I set up several alarms to remind myself to check where the bus is at the moment”
Recommendation 2:
To redesign the app in a way that eliminates users’ need to rely on alternative transit system apps and make DoubleMap fully self sufficient.
Current Design:
Proposed Design:
Takeaway Theme 3:
Displays a lot of superfluous information
Problem:
The application needs to display more relevant information like announcements, bus delay information and bus conditions instead of all the different bus routes and bus systems which clutter the interface.
What participants said
“When I first used the app, I did not know which system to pick”
“I don’t need to know which buses go to which of the bus stops ”
Recommendation 3:
To create a minimal design for the home screen that only asks the destination address and shows the relevant bus route(s) for that particular destination.
Current Design:
Proposed Design:
❌ Chose to delay Takeaway 4, 5 as Takeaways 1, 2 and 3 were immediate problems that had to be prioritised.
Takeaway Theme 4:
Lacks information about prominent locations around the bus stop and local monuments
Problem:
Travellers have a tough time figuring out iconic locations on the way to their destination.
Recommendation 4:
Have distinct visual elements on the map that highlight the locations when user is traveling on the route.
Takeaway Theme 5:
Absence of live updates and announcements to communicate new developments with respect to bus routes and conditions to users
Problem:
Users don't have updates on route changes or on the condition of the bus.
Recommendation 5:
Introduce a succinct Announcements feature so that users are aware of new developments in a timely manner.
Goal
We divided our usability tests in two parts.
1. We tested out the “Looking for a bus” user journey using a think-aloud protocol.
2. We tested the “Alert system” with users on the bus by conducting the “Wizard of Oz” technique since Figma does not have the functionality to prototype sound.
Objective:
To see if our proposed designs are solving the problems addressed in our research and findings
Takeaway
Identified problems in the alert system
Usability Test
Takeaway Theme 1:
The alert system interferes with the use of the Map
Problem:
Pop-up was placed in the middle of the screen that was obstructing the user from seeing the current location of the bus and use other features.
What participants said
“I find it hard to get back to the home screen, it is a little confusing”
“There is so much information on the alert and it is hard to recollect all of it in this format”
Recommendation 1:
1. Changed the placement of the alert with a clearer exit button
2. Cleaned up the alert and further improved the visual hierarchy.
Initial Design:
Final Design:
Usability Test
Takeaway Theme 2:
Departure alert is overly complicated
Problem:
Users had trouble setting custom alerts and found the option unnecessary
What participants said
“I am not sure if I know or want to create a custom alert”
“I don’t want to spend my time in creating two alerts and I feel it could be unnecessary”
Recommendation 2:
Departure alert is overly complicated
1. To simplify the alert screen and its userflow
Initial Design:
Final Design:
1. Figma
2. Adobe Photoshop
3. Miro
4.Adobe Illustrator
Net Promoter Score (NPS):
We could measure loyalty based on one direct question- Would you recommend this product or service to a friend or colleague?
Task Performance Indicator (TPI):
We could measure if the user can articulate every step of the user flow and if there are any pain points that need to be addressed.
Engagement:
We could asses the success by measuring how many users engage with the app from inception until they exit the app.
We ideated a bunch of features that could significantly enhance DoubleMap’s User Experience. For this iteration, we prioritised only the vital ones.
Some of the features that we plan to introduce in the future updates are-
1. Incorporate an announcements feature that updates users about bus/journey conditions in a timely manner
2. Automate and integrate the bus stop alerts on driver’s end to eliminate the user’s task of pulling the stop string on the bus.
3. Notify the user and outline the next best route from his current location if the user misses his bus.
4. Make the map more informative by showing building names on the map as most of the bus stops are named after buildings.
1. The research could make use of a broader set of participants.
Even though we had enough themes and aspects to tackle, the research could address a lot more problems faced by a larger set of users.
2. In our usability testing and research, fieldwork was involved, and finding a convenient time for participants proved difficult especially in today's pandemic-ridden world.
We followed all covid-19 guidelines and social distancing protocols along with making compromises with our schedules to successfully conduct research.
3. Had to scrap my first contextual interview because I was not "invisible".
4. Would have loved to have conducted stakeholder interviews to figure out the business needs of the applications.
[1] “Cognitive Walkthrough.” Wikipedia, 12 December 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_walkthrough
[2] “Competitor analysis.” Wikipedia, 5 March 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competitor_analysis
[3] “Contextual Inquiry.” Wikipedia, 26 March 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contextual_inquiry
[4] “What is an Affinity Diagram?.” ASQ, 13 January 2021, https://asq.org/quality-resources/affinity
[5] “What Are User Personas and Why Are They Important?.” Xd Ideas, 17 December 2019, https://xd.adobe.com/ideas/process/user-research/putting-personas-to-work-in-ux-design/
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