Redesigning the bus experience in the Strathclyde area
London has one of the most advanced and connected transport systems in the world. However, other cities in the UK , like Glasgow, are still behind in terms of connected public services and cashless payment. This was a team 2-month project for my MSc program at the Glasgow School of Art to explore what the future could look like for Bus routes, timetables & Ticketing structures at the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport.
MY ROLE
Design Researcher
Service Designer
INSTRUMENTS
YEAR
Field research
Concept mapping
Interviews
Knowledge wall
Lo-fi wireframes
Storyboard
2016
The challenge
As cities grow and demand increases, more routes and ways of transport are implemented in cities. However, very often, payment and ticketing structures are not kept up to date with the technology and lifestyle of users.
The goal of this project was to improve the bus service in the Strathclyde area of Scotland. The research phase included auto-ethnography and user interviews to identify pain points when traveling from point A to point B.
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The target groups were students, newcomers and tourists who often struggle to understand how transport work in Glasgow. The final concept included a check-in and check-out system to have more accurate and consistent prices. Also, a mobile payment system and an to app to keep track of transport expenses and find the best routes depending on how the traffic is.
Discovery
The team drove desk research about the different Operators, SPT Website and others that give information about travel journeys in the Strathclyde Region.
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A set of questions were formulated in order to know the real thoughts and motivations behind the current and former bus users. The study was made inside buses, bus stances and in streets of the City Centre of Glasgow, with people of different ages, occupations and destinations.
Analysis
1. Convenience and comfort are the benefits former users look for whenn changin from public to private transport e.g. mothers with strollers
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2. Unlike locals who feel comfortable with the current system, non-locals find it complicated, and out-of-date. They find it difficult to understand the zone system, different rates depending on the distance and the several types of tickets available.
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3. Users lose track of their expenses when using more than one means of transport, therefore, they prefer using just one, not necessarily the cheapest or the one they think is best, but the one that takes them closer and on time.
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4. Users feel more comfortable when knowing the route, time and fare before they leave home. Younger people look for it in the web while older people prefer to ask in central stations.
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5. The design and structure of the timetables differs from operator to operator, which makes the timetables difficult to understand.
Ideation
Prototype & test
We created a clickable prototype to test with our target users. The feedback was very positive. Everybody liked the idea that everything was connected to the smartphone and that it is very simple and user friendly. We used our concept diagram to explain how the different transportation modes would be interconnected.
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