Design Thinking with Ironhack
Ironhack’s Prework: Emmanuel_Challenge1
“They say the journey is more important than the destination. In the city, you just want to get to where you’re going”
There are countless navigation apps that make this possible. With pros and cons to each, thinking about how to get someone from one place to another in the most effortless way possible becomes the goal for every mode of transportation out there.
I invite you to join me in looking closer at one of the technologies we have today that makes getting to our destination much easier than before. Why, even as helpful as they are, how it makes the experience less of an adventure and more like waiting in a line. And ways we can think about these issues to improve this digitized travel experience.
The App In-Scope: Citymapper
One company working to provide us with more options for transportation in various metropolitan areas around the world Is Citymapper, a public and private transit and mapping application for city navigation. It provides information on where to find types of transportation as well as route issues and how active your city currently is.
The primary functionality is simple. Based on a starting point and destination, you’re given:
A route and it’s different options,
An estimated time to get the destination,
And the cost of transportation.
Where it Hurts: The pain points.
Out of these three steps, the biggest issue people are having using this app is how to handle the cost of transportation. This isn’t to say travel prices are too expensive (that’s a different conversation). Rather, how we’re going about paying for a transit fare. We find ourselves buying several tickets for the various buses, trains, and ferries we need for a commute. We buy these tickets going in the wrong direction, use vending machines that don’t work, or won’t take a specific form of payment. You might not have a problem with any of this, but then find it difficult to understand the code-like numbers on the ticket telling you your ride is already here.
Mission (IM)POSSIBLE: Defining the problem and getting it solved.
Currently, Citymapper is a great navigation tool for getting from point A to point Z. But with the other 24 points in between asking for a transit fare, I might stay home and continue to order out and buy online. What feature could be implemented to simplify the task of paying for fares from different channels? Sounds like a tough problem to solve. Thankfully, we have you and your strong opinions to lead the way.
Design Thinking
Hopefully, at this point, you’re not thinking that this is an article about saving up for your own car and never waiting for a bus or train again. Rather, this is a brief thought process on how the application Citymapper can be improved by thinking about what makes it underperform. If I didn’t mention it yet, this is all about you. So try not to cringe too much as I attempt to empathize with you on an extreme level.
Speaking of Empathy…
I understand you are seeking consistency.
It’s annoying to have to get back on a line every time you get on another mode of transportation.
There is a lack of ease in your travels.
There are too many steps to get from here to there (and I don’t mean with your feet). You need a fare for a bus, then a train, and then another bus, and then a ferry, and then a cab. You are full of adventure, and this process of constantly opening your wallet can be quite daunting.
More About You
You are a commuter, a tourist, an explorer, a surveyor, a pioneer, a globetrotter. You could be young or old and it would never make a difference because you always have a destination. The world is yours and you would appreciate some assistance traversing it.
The Interview
When asking for people’s opinions about this technology and how it would improve one’s travel experience, the answers came to surprise me. Some had more problems than expected, others had no problems at all. The topic of accessibility in real-time came up constantly. More so, people’s responses came down to the discussion of how useful Citymapper is in tight situations. I’d ask questions like:
- When do you find yourself going to new places?
- Do you think price matters when planning to go somewhere only once versus going to a place often?
- Would you ever consider changing your daily route?
- How do you feel when you use this app? What makes it unique?
- What are some of the easiest and most difficult parts of this app?
- Considering navigation applications in general, what could this app offer to get you to use it more?
The Other Options: The Competition
The last question I asked was to think about the other mapping applications out there. The Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze’s, Transit’s, City Motion’s, Maps.Me, and so on. Sure, they all offer the same functions in a nutshell. Yet at the same time, the uniqueness each one has can bring out the style of the person using it. Thinking about Citymapper, the app in question, what makes it unique? Better yet, Since we are on the topic of improving it, what about this new feature could we add to Citymapper to make it more unique?
The Brainstorm: Ideate
Thinking about a solution to what now seems like two problems, a lack of usability and uniqueness, I drew out a few solutions. On the surface, some of the ideas seem like they already exist. The difference between these and what is out there presently is that this thought process is promoting collaboration between the application Citymapper and these already implemented systems.
Universal Fare Card: Like a credit card, but solely for transportation services
Scenic Option: Implement more walking and/or bike routes within travel to minimize transfers.
Transit Agencies First: Suggest Agencies that support bus/train transfers.
Timelines: Advise funding transportation cards based on users’ travel routine.
Pay Now Option: Manage payment system for users
Minimize: Shorter option based on destination content
Hot Spot: Suggest hot spots when meetups
Price vs Time Charts: Introduce a scale displaying cheaper choices sacrificing time or faster options at an expense.
Prototypes
I decided to implement a wireframe prototype for the Timelines feature. This solution considers the interaction an individual gets using the app and how it can take advantage of navigation technologies to create personal routes. It would work like a survey, prompting application users with ways to fund and schedule their next commute to a familiar destination or area, providing them with where to go before using an ideal mode of transportation.
Final Thoughts
You can do everything right, and something unexpected will still show up. This feels like the theme of this solution, as planning ahead is what we intuitively do to handle unsuspected problems. If we don’t, we are taken by surprise, we arrive late to functions, or anxiety becomes way too common.
This article was a glimpse of design thinking and methods. I do not mention the word “design” or “user” a lot in order to simplify the idea of problem-solving. Once upon a time, I used to “design” on a daily basis. When working with problems, especially ones usually solved by taking a step back, I could never finish. And when I managed to complete a design, it would be a disaster.
“It’s simple when I problem solve and handle things as if it just happened to me, send my complaints to me so I can solve them for me or I will lose myself as a customer if I can not solve this problem that I have addressed to me.”
I hope you enjoyed our little dive into design thinking. I would like to thank everyone at Ironhack for presenting this design thinking challenge. And I would like to thank you for taking the time to read it.
