Ironhack’s Prework: Design Thinking_Challenge1
As an assignment for IronHack, I got to work on a project around the app UrbanGo, a public transit and mapping startup based in Silicon Valley.
This app offers its users the quickest and cheapest public and private transport routes by just choosing a starting point and destination.
What does the app need?
UrbanGo wants to solve the pain that users experience by having to purchase different public transport tickets through different channels.
The goal of this project is to create this feature by applying the Design Thinking process.
Empathize
Which problem will be solved?
Having to buy different transport tickets through different channels
Who is the audience?
Young people between 25–35, often use public transport when in their city. Like to travel and live new experiences.
Who is the client’s competition?
- Citymapper
- Google maps
- Maps.Me
- Apple maps
What is the tone/feeling?
Friendly, optimistic
After answering these questions myself, and to better understand the user and their needs, I interviewed 5 people who shared characteristics mentioned in the audience.
With this interview, I tried to find out how the whole experience of moving around and buying transport tickets goes, how the users actually get to the tickets, what kind of apps or other tools they use to find their destinations, and what they most like/dislike about them. I also wanted to know about their good and bad experiences when traveling and having to buy tickets, how they felt during that moment and what they wish to find in a navigation app.
Define
According to the answers, I found the following main problems:
- When traveling abroad and buying different tickets at once, users find it too stressful and time-consuming to have to remember which ticket to use first and for how long it is valid and then, figure out where/how to actually validate it.
- Users would like to be recommended by the app, whether to buy a ticket that is more convenient / cheaper for their route, for example, 4 tickets at once that would cost less than buying them separately.
- Users would like to be indicated in a better way, the direction they should take when changing or leaving transport to their destination. Particularly when abroad and with a different language, the street name doesn’t really help them to figure out where they should go.
Ideate
Visual/written direction description
Besides giving a written name of the exit or street the user should take to get to their destination, the app will provide extra descriptive information. For example, after taking the metro, the app will indicate “turn left and go in the direction of the elevator” or “turn right and take the exit next to the coffee shop”. Besides a real picture of the description will also be provided, to which the user will get access by just clicking on it if needed.
Validation time
With the new feature that lets the user buy all tickets at once and having them in the app, we are already covering the first problem and reducing the stress that this whole action represented.
Now in order to make our user’s experience even smoother, the app will indicate the validation time of each ticket in a direct, clearer way, and if needed, users will have the option to be notified when the validation time is running out. This would be a notification on display or sound/vibration.
Lowest price recommendations
To deal with the second problem, the user will have the option to add some extra information about their route, which will help the app make the best price recommendations. For example, users could add how long they are planning to stay in their first destination or if they plan to visit someplace else after that. That way the app will recommend them to buy a day ticket, a group of 4, or whatever option that offers them the lowest price.
Things I learned
- It is very important to have a guide of questions to follow during the interviews. In the beginning, it can be a little difficult to actually articulate them but using a piece of paper and pen helps a lot to bring order and clarity. What also helped me is having extra questions coming from possible answers(positive/negative) to continue with a fluid conversation.
- When reading and interpreting the interview answers, it can be difficult to choose the main problem(s) the users are facing, as they can be plenty, all very different. For this, paying attention to not only the interviewed person’s words or how many times they are repeated throughout the conversation, but also to facial expressions and gestures can be of advantage to actually recognize what has been bothering them the most.
- As I am very new at doing sketches and prototypes, I can tell how hard it is to just work on something simple and not overdo things. However, I find it incredibly enjoyable and practical, and hope with time and tons of practice will get my prototyping skills to the next level.
