Task
‍To redesign the shuttle app CMU uses, Ride Systems, which is presently inaccessible to the majority of graduate students.

Role
Research, Task Analysis & Interaction Design

Client RideSystems, CMU

Reasons for the frustration

80% of graduate students don't know how to use the CMU shuttle app. Out of those who have tried more than 50% give up due to the inefficiency and frustration.

No starting point

No clear starting point
(incompatible mental model)

Don't know which route

Couldn't figure out what shuttle route they had to choose
(lack of declarative knowledge.)

Confusing architecture

Confused about information architecture and buttons

Lack of feedback

A lot of time was spent clicking on a number of different buttons

Redesign

The redesign focuses on enabling a user to navigate through the application more efficiently and easily by decreasing the gulf of evaluation, structuring and simplifying the task sequence, and visuals while adding necessary documentation.

75% of the users increased their efficiency by 50%.
‍

The final redesign addressed four main pain points from the user study, while maintaining the look and feel of the brand.

1. Aligned Mental Model

Step by step introduction for novice
Homescreen and back button icon added incase a user gets lost
Decreased gap between user mental model, system image and designer mental model

2. Available Declarative Knowledge

Lettered routes have names assigned to understand area they cater to
Immediate feedback is provided when route is clicked, by reflecting a matching coloured on the map along with the stops names
Nielsen’s heuristic of recognition over recall, with all this information this design no longer requires a user to have prior knowledge to recall

1. A user can click on the routes and see it display on the screen

2. A user can use the map by clicking on the location icon to become aware of their current location in reference to their destination

3. A user can enter an address into the search bar

3. Visual Indication & Useful Information

Ability to see routes and map on homescreen
Routes Visual schematic manner similar to that of the London tube, which has been proven to be easiest to read and most effective
Visual proximity has been increased so the ‘x’ no longer sits directly above the list of stops
Help, documentation and schedule pdf's added to bottom menu bar

4. Additional Feedback

By adding analytics, frequently checking broken links or adding a vibration when a button is pressed are a few ways this problem can be address. Because this problem is greatly dependent on the parties and technology, this was the problem that was of lowest priority in the redesign.

Screens

Learnings

Given more time, I would have like to do more quantitative research to understand the constraints and to be able to cater to them as well. In additional I would ideally have liked to test the design with more people.

< Previous l Back to Top l Next >