Ironhack UX/UI-Challenge #1: Design Thinking

Hey y’all, this is my first article in Medium and also my first Design Thinking Challenge for the UX/UI Design Bootcamp at Ironhack Barcelona. The exercise consists in thinking about a new feature for Citymapper that will take the user experience one step further.

As some of you will know, Citymapper is an award winning app of which main goal is to offer a bunch of urban mobility options to get from A to B. It is available in many cities all around the world and gives you access to all public transportation methods and combinations. However, you still can’t purchase the transport tickets through the app which is quite an annoying process and, of course, it requires a solution.

EMPATHIZE

When you face this kind of challenge it is very important to be methodical so I first analyzed the app, understood what it offers and tried it myself. This is called the ”Empathize” phase.

Once you get familiar with the whole thing, it is time to open your point of view and interview some people. To do so, I thought about a few questions that would help me get all the information I needed in order to reach the best solution. I chose 5 people with different backgrounds so the information that I got was apparently very diverse but also useful to make sure that my solution will work for any of them.

These were the 5 questions I made:

1. Compare these two activities: moving in your home town vs. moving abroad.
2. How do you usually plan your journeys or day by day activities?
3. Which part of that process do you find more complex?
4. Name 3 traveling experiences you’ve had abroad and explain briefly how did you manage to move from one place to another.
5. Tell me a story / anecdote related to moving around a city you don’t know (could be long or short distance experiences).

I got very valuable info about the topic but I also learnt a few things that will keep in mind for next interviews.

· Some of them didn’t feel 100% comfortable with the situation, they thought that maybe they would “chose the wrong answer” or would not say what they were expected to.

· I also realized that it is important to start the conversation with a brief introduction about the topic, so the interviewee can understand more or less what the questions will be about and be in a way more focused.

· Sometimes, they said things that at first didn’t look relevant for my research but in the end, after reading the 5 interviews I saw that behind some of them there was a clue that may guide me to the solution.

DEFINE

As part of the Define phase, I analyzed all the info and got these conclusions:

· People generally don’t like to plan very much.

· They look for flexibility.

· They find it difficult to understand how public transport works in a concrete city or area.

· That makes them feel insecure about their decision: did I chose the best option ? Is there any cheaper / faster / better option ?

· Sometimes they don’t feel safe when they take out their wallet to buy a ticket.

· They rather feel like locals than tourists when they travel.

IDEATE

One thing was clear in my conclusions, the use of public transportation changes a lot according not only to the city where you are but also your personal situation and other external causes.

So I divided the target in two different groups: public transport heavy users and occasional users.

1. HEAVY USERS: this group of people uses public transport everyday to go to work or university for example. They also have an active social life so they need the fastest and cheapest way for moving around the city. And to get so, they combine different transportation methods if needed.

What do I propose for them:

· A Citymapper Card (single owner) that could also be linked to Apple Wallet or any other similar app so you don’t need to carry the card with you all the time.

· The card will give you access to all the different public transportation methods: bus, metro, train…

· You only have to choose through the app the “pack” that best suits your mobility needs.

· Pay the fee once a month and you get an unlimited number of tickets.

1. OCCASIONAL USERS: these people do not use public transport every day. Maybe because they use their bike to move around or simply because their work and friends are all located in the same area so they go walking.

My proposal for them:

· A Citymapper Card, not single owner (focused more on tourists). It allows you to manage the tickets of all the group just with one card.

· The card could also be linked to Apple Wallet or any other similar app so you don’t need to carry the card with you all the time.

· Once you enter the route on the app, you will also have the option to buy “a special ticket” that will charge in your Citymapper Card all the different tickets you may need to complete the route.

· The cost of all the tickets will be automatically charged to your credit card.

PROTOTYPE

Heavy users

Occasional users

LEARNINGS

I find this Design Thinking first approach has been very useful for me. It has helped me assimilate the method and understand the importance of every step.

On one hand I have felt quite confident in some of the phases, specially ideating and prototyping. But on the other hand, I had many doubts when thinking about the questions for the interviews and also during them. I guess it is due to my graphic design background that makes me lack the experience needed to talk to people and analyze them properly, as this would be more the planner’s task in my daily job.

I’m looking forward to the next challenge !