Uergo : Offering transparency to public transit

An exploration in how to develop trust with systems that traditionally feel dishonest

May 12, 2018

minute read

Design thinking

Product strategy

CLIENT

Uber (Routematch)

SERVICES

Mobile design

ROLE

Lead designer

Project summary

Just outside, waiting in line, are 20 riders each with a phone in hand. All wondering where the 4:15 bus is. The thing was, I worked at the company that built the app that supported this information. When I asked why these queued riders weren’t using the app, the answer was unanimously “It doesn’t really work and it’s hard to use.”

Given this feedback, and as someone that hasn’t used the app before I decided to check it out. The first thing I did of course was download the app. The reviews on the app store weren’t great and our app store rating were abysmal. After downloading the app I decided to use the app and take public transit to and from work for the next month.     I should mention that our office was directly across the street from the train station, and I did take the train most mornings, but drove to and from the station in the morning. The trains were a sore spot for me, but I personally never felt the need to use an app since there were digital signs everywhere with estimated arrival times.     

So now with app in hand I made the move to taking the bus to and from. My first impression of the app was that it was clearly created by developers that understood the ins and outs of the transit system. Even though I knew the ins and outs as well, it still took me a ton of time to search my route, find the right one, and then digest the information being shown. I had to agree with the riders I spoke with earlier. It was hard to use. It did work, but it worked in the way that it makes sense to the makers of the app, not the person running out the door unsure of whether or not they’ll make it to work on time.

Here are some screens of the original app.

Exploration

This was 2016, the age of Uber. I could see the car coming to pick me up on a live feed map. Why couldn’t I see this same data on a bus? Better yet, what if I applied the same care and detail that Massimo Vignelli applied to the NYC transit maps. Do I really need to see a map view or can I just see a linear map with three data points: Is the bus running late or on time, where is it in relation to me, and how much time do I have to wait.

    I also wanted to avoid the mess of trying to find the bus route and just start with a simple prompt, where do you want to go? Using location awareness the app should be able to know where I’m starting from and then find the right option for me, or at least present me with meaningful options.

    I should also mention that none of this was new, we were already doing something similar for one of our customers. The one thing that was new was suggesting that we use rider information to crowd source the accuracy of the bus’ location. I also wanted to be able to subscribe or favorite a specific route. Most of our riders were habitual, and this would just allow easy access to getting where you needed to go.    

Here is what I presented

the result

I presented this to executive team and the product team, and while all agreed it was an improvement I failed to present the business value and create a clear reason to add it to the product roadmap. It was an exercise of love, and a great learning experience. Nice designs, well tested prototypes, and quotes from an active user community don’t always translate to why the company should invest time and resources into a project. The existing product was already in use and we had some local customers paying for it.

final thoughts

This was a great learning experience for me. A reminder that value isn’t just derived by how well received a product is, but how willing customers are to pay for it. This doesn’t mean we should stop trying to improve, but that we (designers) need to be able to present more than just pretty screens. We need to understand how to articulate the true value of our work. While I love Massimo Vignelli, his infamous quote that “Design is a fight, a fight against the ugly” only carries weight when your stakeholders are of the same mindset. Most of the time a more accurate version of this would be “Design is a fight, a fight to gain new customers and retain existing ones.”

final thoughts

The result

JASON REYNOLDS

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