PTV
PTV is a dedicated platform in Victoria when you need to plan your journey. Planning a trip from A to B has to be simple, fast and engaging with travel options.
We redesigned the PTV App to offer better multi-modal travel and to promote walking and cycling. We also conceptualized a ticketing purchase feature.
User experience – Competitor analysis – User interview – Persona – Mobile app – Lean methodology – User interface design – Wireframe – Prototype – Word – XD CC
General Assembly
2018
My role
This project is a collaboration with two other UX Designers, Nigel Tan and Charlie Chang while studying at General Assembly, Melbourne. We followed a lean process, from user research to wireframing, concept to prototyping and user testing. We had 2 weeks to present our MVP in a high fidelity prototype.
I lead the research (competitor analysis, affinity map, personas, features prioritization) and the concept (A to B, visual design, interaction design, community).
Context
I WANT TO GO FROM A TO B
Melbourne is Australia’s fastest growing city and see its population growing by 3% each year. In 2016, 750.000 passengers were commuting weekday. They were waiting, on average, 15 minutes at a stop or a station for their train, tram or bus. They were spending 80 minutes commuting to and from work.
When you search about the best journey planner in Melbourne, Google maps and tram tracker come first, then Public Transport Victoria. So, why PTV is not that popular? Maybe a confusing homepage, too many features, and interactions curb the users’ experience.
Challenge
SIMPLE, INTUITIVE, FRIENDLY
Simple, intuitive and friendly was our design moto; all our features were tested against this.
We had to define our audience, a diversity of travelers: from the day to day commuter to the occasional traveler, the bike rider and tourist, the elder and people with disabilities, family with prams, kids. We had to consider people who are tech savvy, those who are not and accessibility. We had to understand the time the users could have when they plan a trip.
And as part of our brief, we had to promote a shift to walking and cycling.
How might we design an engaging and supporting PTV App for users to better plan their journey and promote a shift to walking and cycling?
Solution
ALL IN ONE, MULTI-MODALS AND SAFE TRAVELS
Our App offers the user to plan their journey at one tap and choose the best mode for them to travel by swiping.
We re-designed the PTV app based on the travelers’ community. Thanks to the community user can avoid delays, travel safer – we added a share feature for users to share their journey with friends or family, enable live location.
We have also created a reward system to promote walking and cycling which add a friendly touch to the experience – if the weather is good they are encouraged to ride their bike and will be rewarded for it.
We designed a Myki card option within the App, for users to control their fares and credits, add credits and touch on with their phone – dematerialize a transport card.
- Plan your journey easily
- Better multi-modal travel
- Avoid delays
- Promote a shift to walking and cycling
- Ticketing information and purchase
- Mapping live location
Design process
Research
COMPETITORS ANALYSIS
Who are the competitors we selected and why?
- Tramtracker – Tram journey planner
- Google Maps – multi-modals journey planner
- Yes Optus! — Credits and data usage
- Deliveroo — Live delivery mapping
- Uber — Enter a direction and mapping
- Opal Travel — dematerialize public transport card
- Waze – Community based App
- Facebook messenger — Interact with a community
- Dumb ways to Die — Friendly community
- Si Mobility (Siemens Group) — Scan on to transports when using your phone
What were the key features?
- Option for multi-modal travel
- Map
- Favourite
- Payment through the App
- Time table
- Community alert
Users Interviews
When we targeted the users to interview we faced that our audience was not only very broad but also had different timing and goals. Men and women from 12 to 99 years, diversity, disabilities, families… So in the time we had, our questions were generated to target specific users.
Who did we interview?
- Daily commuters
- Occasional public transport users
- Bike riders
- Tourists
Affinity Map
We mapped out all our information into an Affinity Map. We organized our findings into modes: train, tram, walk, bike, Myki, PTV app experience to get a better understanding of what users are expecting.
What were the key findings from the users we interviewed?
- Google Maps App is mostly used
- PTV App is not accurate
- Myki top-up process is bad
- Expect notifications/informations about delays
- Need information and help when using public transport
Personas
Creating three personas gave us guidance to ensure we were building our product according to their needs, experiences, behaviors, and goals. We referred to Kyle, Ashley, and Wolfgang in the next steps of our process.
What were our personas goals?
- The fastest way to go home
- Find a sit while traveling
- Check credit on Myki card
- Visualize journey on a map
- Feel safe while traveling
Impact Matrix
In the time we had, we needed to prioritize what could be achievable in low effort with a high impact for the users.
What features did we prioritize?
- Live location
- Travel options with the fastest at the beginning
- Map
- Myki balance
- Community
Ideation
We spent one day sketching the app, prioritizing features based on our impact matrix. We wanted to deliver a simple and easy solution to choose the best travel modes, interact with the community, visualize the journey on a map and integrate a Myki card system. We had two concepts in mind we worked on:
- From A to B
- Active community to help users
Next step was to design the frames in XD.
A paper prototype was not practical, we moved quickly to a digital prototype because our main design required interactions.
Prototyping
#1 Prototype
- The fastest way to commute and travel options
- Interaction with community
- A reward for walking and riding a bike
- Live map location
- Help and support
- Myki card features
- Colouring icon to indicate crowding
#2 Prototype
We iterated and made some changes based on users feedback
- Copywriting
- Made intuitive the swiping on the main screen
Reflection
What I learnt
PTV App was my third project at General Assembly, after 3 weeks course. We introduced personas in our UX practice and we had no limits with the UI. It has been valuable to learn to work as a team and the different strengths that designers have. It was easy for me to lead the competitors’ analysis, personas creation, the concept, and visual design. I learned from my team members how to better manage time and to set day to day goals to achieve, to keep the project on track.
I really enjoyed this project and everything I learned about the journey planner topic – from the competitors’ analysis to new technologies like AR and VR, how they can support and provide a better user experience.
I refined my prototype after the end of the course according to a few more interviews I did. I would like to continue to work on our PTV App. With further user testing, I would like to test vocabulary, improve affordances, expand community channels, develop an AR guide feature to help users find their platform easier.