RiderZ
RiderZ is a simple bus schedule app developed as a first project.
Problem
The problem we were presented with was a midwestern town that had redone their bus system. Now they have riders who are reporting that they are having trouble getting the right bus lines, especially at the Washington/State stop, which services seven different bus lines. They were also unclear as to when the buses would be arriving.
Role
I filled all roles on this project, as it was a solo design project.
Audience
The audience for this app was the riders in a midwestern town.
Solution
Solution
The solution was the development of RiderZ, an app that serves as a way to view the schedule for the buses, and allows sorting by both time and stops.
Tools Used
In this project, I made use of Figma, Figjam, Google Forms, Google Slides, Adobe Color, Notion, Discord, Zoom, and IRC.
Research Methods
Research for RiderZ was done primarily through surveys and interviews, distributed to multiple online communities containing members from across the world.
User Priorities
My research found that users primarily used transit apps when they were unfamiliar with the local transit system. Since the client recently overhauled their transit system, no one is familiar with it, so that confirms that we do have a market.
Competitive Analysis
Further research showed that Google Maps was the primary competitor, while none of the respondents I got used a different third party app. Google Maps’ largest strength, as I learned in interviews, is ease of access. Google apps come pre-installed on Android phones, and Google is the most used search engine, so if people don’t think about it, they tend to use Google. The official apps tended to get more use from people who regularly rode public transit, and it was because they offered some kind of additional function, such as being able to purchase tickets through the app.
Persona
Pain Points
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Hard to keep different routes straight
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Getting on the wrong bus
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Not knowing when the correct bus will arrive
Initial Sketches
My initial sketch for a site map included the possibility of searching by location, time, or route, and a final consideration to map into all three
Early on I did some sketches for potential front page interfaces. The first few were more standard layouts
While the later batch was more experimental in nature, and largely got rejected due to being a bit much
User Flow and Site Map
Since the app is a fairly simple one, the user flows were very straight forward, and translated into a simple and clean site map
Wireframe and Prototype
The initial wireframe was very simple, but in my first few rounds of testing and second opinions, I found that the map graphic I had planned to use was a very inefficient use of space
When I moved on to the clickable prototype, I shifted away from using the graphic to more differences in the search option screens, and a full screen schedule page that can take colors better
Usability Testing
I ran usability tests by distributing a Maze route through the groups that I conducted my survey. After they completed the Maze, I interviewed them to discuss any complications that they had. The results showed that the interface was very intuitive.
Style Tile
Brand Development
My first attempt at color was a mix of red and green, a color palette I've enjoyed since I was young. However, ​it quickly became very obvious that this combination was terribly flawed, and was nigh unreadable, even before the consideration of people who suffer from red-green colorblindness
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After moving on from that, I settles on a nice soothing purple as a background color, inspired by the MBTA logo, and a bolded yellow font for good contrast and readability
Final Thoughts
Going forward, RiderZ could certainly be expanded beyond the MVP that was required by the project. One of the biggest items that came up in my original research that was out of scope for me was incorporating the ability to purchase tickets.
