Free access to live train times and railway station information
Client
Easy Commute
Industry
Transportation
Platform
iOS & Android
Overview
Easy Commute is a digital rail technology platform that sells train tickets and rail cards and provides free access to live train times and railway station information through a digital mobile app. You can view the prototype here. Based on field interviews and usability testing, Easy Commute allows the booking of tickets to be easy and uncomplicated, as well as making it easy for users to see and track their journeys and train times.
Introducing Easy Commute Mobile App
What is Easy Commute?
Easy Commute is a digital rail technology platform that sells train tickets and rail cards and provides free access to live train times and railway station information through a digital mobile app.
Timeline
12 Weeks
Client
Easy Commute
My Role
My role during this project was as a Lead UX Designer and UX Researcher. I was involved with each stage of the process, which included initial user research, sketching and wireframing, prototyping, usability testing and presenting final designs and findings to clients.
Tools
Figma, Pen and Paper Sketch, Google Docs, Miro
Skills
Experimentation, A/B testing, Qualitative research, User interviews, Usability testing, UX design, UI design
Defining the Problem
"Who are we designing for and what challenges are they facing currently with accessing and booking the train?" I kept asking myself these questions as I tried to define the problem space and who to design for. I first narrowed my user group to Nigerians between the ages of 16 - 64, as this age range has the highest internet adoption rate (source).
Problem Statement
Booking and managing train trips in Nigeria can be difficult due to a fragmented and confusing transportation system. There is a need for a personalised mobile app product that integrates multiple train operators' ticketing systems, offers real-time information on train schedules and delays, and facilitates seamless booking and payment processes. This app will ultimately improve the travel experience of train users in Nigeria by increasing efficiency, reducing the risk of missed trips, and decreasing additional costs.
Final Outcome
These were the final results of what we decided as the metrics and KPIs for the Easy Commute Mobile App.
Conducting Desk Research
I did some problem exploration by exploring the Desk Research method to understand the existing pain points of the train users and how competitors and users behave.
To further buttress and solidify the response gotten from this desk research, I did deeper research and got a paper published around the 'Challenges of Rail Transportation in South West Nigeria by Centre for Logistics and Transport Studies (CELTRAS), Faculty of Social Sciences, School of Graduate Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria which is available HERE.
Affinity Mapping
In this process phase, I created an interview guide for each of the guided interviews. I approached the data collection with fixed, non-leading questions to maintain consistency across the discussions and gain relevant insights. The goal for the interview was to indiscriminately gather personal opinions on each individual's experience with train booking and gather their pain points and challenges.
Feature Prioritisation
For Easy Commute Mobile app, I ranked and organized features based on customer value, business goals, the amount of time and cost, and technical viability.
Constraints
For this project, I detailed the constraints I encountered while brainstorming and ideating for Easy Commute MVP design.
The Solution
For this project, I detailed the constraints I encountered while brainstorming and ideating for Easy Commute MVP design.
My solution is a digital ticket booking product that helps users interested in traveling to order and buy tickets from the comfort of their homes. The users can search for daily train movements based on timings and locations, verify their ID cards within minutes of upload, top up their rail cards, and pay for tickets with their debit card, PayPal, or their Apple or Google Pay wallet within seconds.
Core Taskflow
The core flow of the application was to provide people with an easy means to book a train at their convenience. I decided to go with a simplified process and task flow for efficiency. For this project, I had the constraint of exploring only one task flow, and the MVP will allow people to book a train.
Style Guide and Colours
For this project, I created a document that addresses logo usage, font usage, and color usage to ensure complete uniformity in style and formatting wherever the brand is used.
Icons and Illustrations
Icons relevant to Easy Commute were carefully sourced from Untitled Icons libraries, and Illustrations used across the entire product were sourced HERE.
The idea for the primary colour Blue (03045E) was borne out of four thoughts:
1. Trust
Blue is associated with trust, dependability, and reliability, which helps establish a sense of trust between the user and the app.
2. Calmness
Blue is associated with calmness, serenity, and relaxation, which can help create a calming effect and reduce anxiety during the potentially stressful experience of booking a train.
3. Gender-neutral
Blue is generally considered gender-neutral, which is important for an app expected to have users of all genders.
4. Association with travel
Blue is commonly associated with travel, helping to create a connection in the user's mind between the app and travel more broadly.
Logo
Typography
Wireframes - Paper Sketches
I sketched some ideas to understand the problem and flesh out my initial thoughts of the necessary screens needed for Easy Commute.
Onboarding Screens
These are the first things the users see when launching your application. The goal here is to demonstrate some facts about the application, such as how to use it, its features, and how it can help the users.
Book a Train
These screens show the user how to search for trains, check time availability and price, verify documents for a first-time user and an option to choose a payment method for the ticket purchase.
Payment Method
As a solution to one of the problems identified during desk research and user interviews, and to ensure accessibility for all, I factored in different payment methods so that everyone, irrespective of their persona, would be able to pay for their train ticket in not more than 2–3 clicks. This accommodates the cash-only payment issues identified during research.
Verify Documents
One of the major problems highlighted during the research phase was that users were streamlined to just a limited number of types of ID cards to verify their details. As a solution, I added a feature to the product that allows everyone to verify their documents with different ID cards.
Product KPIs and Success Metrics
Validation
Easy Commute app should not become just a one-time delivery. It should be iterated by considering usability tests, A/B tests, and other in-depth surveys with the user to improve the initial version. That said, launching this functionality is only the first step toward the product’s success.
In this way, analysing metrics such as daily and monthly active users, bounce rate, churn rate, and retention rate, would be important for understanding success and elaborating the product roadmap.
Major Takeaway from the Project
This project was exciting and interesting. It allowed me to learn a new prototyping tool, Protopie, become more versed in using interactive components, and involve tons of desk and market research.
The next step will be to conduct more robust user testing on the prototype I currently have to improve the user flow. I would also love to explore more User Epics for the application, such as precise booking dates and times, phone notifications for discount prices, and opportunities for ticket refunds.