BUS+ Redesign
APP
Bus
PublicTransport
Competition Background
I teamed up with five UI/UX designers to participate in a design challenge hosted by AAPD (As A Product Designer), where we redesigned the transportation app Bus+ according to the needs and constraints of the Bus+ company, focusing on optimizing user experience and interface design.
As a result, the speed of bookmarking bus stops and the overall product satisfaction increased.
Among 21 competing teams, we advanced to the top eight finalists and won the 2nd award. Our presentation was highly praised by the judges, who were senior designers.
Project Background
The product life cycle has entered the maturity stage.
Bus+ is a public transportation app launched eight years ago, integrating bus transportation information throughout Taiwan. It also features MRT route maps, Youbike maps and more.
However, Bus+ has entered the maturity phase in the product life cycle, with user growth slowing down. If it isn't optimized, it may gradually lose market appeal.
How might we β¦
"The company has observed that some users are unaware of the MRT route maps and Youbike features within Bus+, and instead switch between different apps to find out how to transfer. "
How do we optimize and promote the integration features of Taiwan transportation to users?
"70% of Bus+'s user base consists of people under 30 years old, most of them are female (Approximately 1.6 females to 1 male). The majority of users are located in northern Taiwan, compared to other regions. "
How do we promote our product to other age groups?
North Star Metric
Bus+'s stakeholders discovered from data that if a user successfully bookmarks bus stops, the retention rate of a user significantly increases.
The primary source of revenue for Bus+ comes from advertising. As more users become DAUs (Daily Activated Users), it enhances ad exposure and brings revenue to the company.
Therefore, we defined bookmarking bus stops as the North Star Metric, serving as the key performance indicator of this project. Optimizing the experience of bookmarking bus stops will be the main focus of this project.
Team size limitation
Bus+ Team
One product designer
One iOS and backend engineer
One Android engineer
There is one product designer, one iOS and backend engineer, and one Android engineer in the Bus+ team. Because of the team size limitation, they focused on maintaining product quality at the present stage and hoped the competitive teams could find a product strategy with "high business value and low development cost" for them in this competition.
My Role
UX Researcher
During the UXR phase, I conducted an in-depth study of the original flow for bookmarking bus stops in the Bus+ APP to identify the main pain points. I was responsible for conducting some user interviews and usability tasks, collaborating with other designers to organize users' pain points through an affinity diagram.
UI Designer
In terms of UI design, I was in charge of establishing the design system to ensure consistency in the team. I also collaborated with other designers to draw up user interfaces and create prototypes for usability testing.
Presentation
We made a presentation together for the final. Due to my background in motion design, I was also responsible for adding animation effects and recording prototype GIFs for the presentation, effectively catching the judges' eyes.
Product Strategy
" Is the elderly population an appropriate target group?"
At the divergence phase, stakeholders proposed expanding the user base to include the elderly population.
To understand whether the elderly market is an appropriate opportunity, we conducted a cross-analysis of multiple data from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications through an STP (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning). We found that the elderly population is quite distant from our current user base and has very different usage habits.
Jumping into the elderly market might be risky. Meanwhile, we discovered many pain points in the current product experience through interviews. If these issues were not solved promptly, we could lose current users which might lead to more severe losses.
Slow but steady product strategy
Therefore, if we can maintain our current user base and expand to the largest green transportation users aged 35 to 59, it would be less risky than directly entering the elderly market.
Considering the timeline of the competition and development costs, we decided to focus on optimizing the current user experience.
User Experience Research
User Interview and Usability Testing
After determining the project strategy and target group, we conducted interviews and usability tests immediately.
We interviewed eight participants aged 18-35 who primarily use public transportation. To enrich the completeness of the data, the participants included both Bus+ users and non-Bus+ users.
It allowed us to identify the common obstacles that Bus+ users and non-Bus+ users faced during the testing.
We extracted excerpts from the interviews and used sticky notes to categorize them to find the common pain points.
After that, we combine the affinity diagram and the customer journey map so we could manage the issues at every phase. Then, we brainstormed design solutions for each one.
User Journey Map
Due to the deadline, we returned to the usage scenarios to converge ideas quickly and reviewed the design solutions from a human perspective.
Users could generally be categorized into two types of scenarios: regular routes and irregular routes.
Then, we found out the intersections between these two groups and prioritized pain points to solve the most critical issues.
Competitor Analysis
Key Insights
Users told us that the interface style of Bus+ seems outdated as if it were still in 2016 or 2017.
Reasons
The awareness of aesthetics is becoming more widespread nowadays. Good interface design plays a crucial role in influencing users' willingness to choose products and their loyalty to the brand.
Solutions
We decided to improve the colour ratio, icons, and design system while continuing the original design style. Simplifying the interface, enhancing readability, and ensuring consistency were our goals. We created a brand image through a white background accented with green.
Key Insights
The transportation tools within the same information categories are placed in different areas of the homepage, causing users to be confused.
The area for managing bookmarks is too small, leading to users not noticing this feature.
Surveys have revealed that information such as weather and nearby bus stops has low usage rates.
Reasons
The information on the homepage is confusing and fails to convey the core value of Bus+.
Solutions
We moved the transportation tools within the same information categories to the upper half of the homepage and redesigned the icons to enhance recognizability.
We placed the bus stop bookmark management in the lower half of the homepage, allowing users to check the bus time and edit the bookmarks while launching Bus+.
Key Insights
The bookmark feature was originally placed at a later phase of the flow.
As it was hidden too deep in the structure and accessible through various pathways, most participants were confused about this feature.
Reasons
Data showed a direct correlation between users bookmarking bus stops and their likelihood of becoming DAUs, influencing advertising revenue. It's an important performance indicator for this project.
Solutions
We offered the bookmark button at the first touch point of users in the flow. At the same time, we provided arrival notifications to set, making the user experience more intuitive.
Key Insights
Users commuting across cities reported the inconvenience of repeatedly querying routes.
Reasons
Rising rent and inflation led people to live further in the suburbs, increasing commuting distances. Additionally, the government introduced T-PASS cards to encourage public transportation use. The change in the overall environment will result in more people commuting across cities.
Solutions
We introduced a new feature to bookmark routes for complex transfer scenarios, allowing users to check and manage bookmarks on the homepage.
Project Results
sec
After redesigning, we conducted post-usability testing with 8 participants to validate if the project was successfully optimized, using the North Star metric as our benchmark.
Quantitative Data
Compared to the pre-test, the time of bookmarking bus stops decreased by 71 seconds, and half of the participants reported that the bookmarking flow became more intuitive and easy.
Combining the bus inquiry and route search into a single search bar also decreased the time for querying.
Qualitative Data
On the qualitative side, participants provided a lot of positive feedback.
The satisfaction levels increased among both Bus+ users and non-users.
What is next for Bus+?
Integrated Transportation Management Platform
The stakeholders shared with us a distant imagination for the future development of this product: establishing a deeper data feedback system.
For example, the government needs to know which areas require the new station setups, and the bus operators need to control driving conditions and service quality. Meanwhile, users need a path to report real-time situations to the platform.
They expected to create a comprehensive system that enhances the immediacy and completeness of public transportation data.
Based on this, we also outlined the future vision of Bus+ for the next five years.
Now, the government is replacing all buses with electric buses (e-BUS), aiming to complete this transition by 2030.
Tracking management systems and driving conditions of e-BUS is easier than hybrid buses. It will open up opportunities for integration with third-party platforms.
Building a solid foundation for the current product experience and accumulating long-term 2C user data will be an opportunity to collaborate with bus operators and the government. It could create a 2B/2C cooperative transportation management platform.
