Ironhack UX/UI prework Challenge 1: Citymapper

This article is part of my pre-training to become a UI/UX designer with Ironhack. The project is to implement a new feature for the app Citymapper which will allow users to buy tickets directly from their device.

What is Citymapper

Citymapper is a utility app, providing a mapping and a real time navigation service. It was created by a former Google employee and launched in 2011 covering London. The app is now operational in 58 cities.

Who is the audience?

Citymapper aims to build a widespread and global user base. Like many service provider apps, it survives on investment funding hoping to become a monopoly.

The main categories of users are:

Tourists: They are often unfamiliar with getting around in the city. They will strongly benefit from the new feature as the app informs users of what kind of ticket they need to buy for their planned journey. Understanding transport fees, the different modes of transport which are compatible with types of tickets and the duration of ticket validity can be challenging.

Frequent travellers: Even though they might be familiar with the city they’re visiting, they’ll probably still be very challenged by transport ticket systems which can change over time.

Local users: These users are mainly looking for optimization in the way they move around the city. Our feature will allow them to compare urban transport offers, avoid queues and ticket machines that don’t work.

In conclusion, even though the user base is very diverse, all categories of users will find strong benefits in the new feature.

Citymapper’s competition

The two major players are Google Maps and Apple Plans. They both come within the operating system of most devices (Google maps for Android and Maps on Iphones). They don’t require the users to look for them. We can also mention Waze that has strong real time traffic features and a dedicated community.

In order to stand out, it is vital to offer features that will bring users from those apps and keep them. Our project is unique and tends to achieve that goal.

Interview

I interviewed a panel of app users of different ages, different levels of IT skills and habits in order to identify different approaches and potential difficulties with the app and its features. 4 out 5 people based in France that I interviewed didn’t know about the app.

The app overall came out as very intuitive for all users (from the most agile to least comfortable ones).

The all-in-one aspect of this improvement was very appealing to all of the people interviewed. They brought to my attention the additional benefit in regards for scheduling future trips. The possibility to plan every journey in advance can be a big stress relief. Especially when it comes to catching a train or a plane in time, or travelling in a foreign country without knoweldge of local transport specificities (they might be managed by different private or public organisations even within the same city).

Overall the new feature generated excitement amongst the interviewees and would convince them to use Citymapper if it had this additional feature.

The main problem to solve

This major new feature will help Citymapper to stand out from its competition, needs to be visible and intuitive to use. The visibility will be advertised by a banner or perhaps a modal window on the main screen of the app (temporarily depending on users engagement).

Prototype

User interactions

The user has two options to buy tickets:

• By selecting the ticket purchase option from the home page. The user will then be asked to define his route in order to have relevant results. The results can be then sorted by lower to higher prices and quickest to longer routes.
• By entering an itinerary. In the results, the user will be offered the option to buy tickets.
• Payment: The idea is to avoid having to enter additional info. It will be done by technologies such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Paypal, etc., that are already pre-entered.
• The tickets will be delivered either using QRcode, NFC/RFID technologies or via pickup points depending on local transport specificities.

Personal thoughts

The strategic aspects of the conception of a new feature with its challenges and possibilities has been really interresting. This UX introduction for me has been a rich experience that gives me confidence in my decision to learn about this discipline.