My Role:
UX/UI designer designing an app for Woolworths Café from conception to delivery.
Responsibilities:
Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, and iterating on designs.
Durban Transport is a public transport service organization focused on affordable transport service for the local municipality of Durban. The organization needs a tool that helps people find out about bus
timetable so they can manage their trips and time more efficiently. The target users are primarily saver’s, pensioner’s and students (Primary, High
School and Tertiary) who would like to use public transport to commute to the city.
The product:
Project Overview
The Problem
Public transport can be unpredictable, for
someone in need of reliable transport to travel
safely into unfamiliar municipal district can
become an easy target for criminals.
The Goal
Design an app that will improve travelling city
to city and help people manage their own time
schedule for commuting, using public.
User Research: Summary
I used the municipalities data on public transport to develop interview questions, which were then used to conduct user interviews. Most interview participants reported feeling bad about using public transport.
The feedback received through research informed us that users would be open
and willing to use the Durban Transport app.
Persona 1: Norman
Problem statement:
​
Norman is a budget-conscious general workman who needs to know how to travel to unfamiliar towns and districts because his part-time employers reside in different locations.
Persona 2: Lungelo
Problem statement:
​
Lungelo is a full-time student who needs to predict bus timetables in order to travel to school because she would prefer to manage her travel account and time scheduling more efficiently. So she can never be late for a class or exam.
Competitive audit
An audit of a few competitor’s products provided direction on gaps and
opportunities to address with the Durban Bus Transport app.
​
Click here to view the full
Ideation
I conducted a brainstorming session to generate ideas for addressing the identified
deficiencies in the competitive audit.
Digital Wireframes
After ideating and drafting some paper wireframes, I created the initial designs for the Durban Bus Transport service app. These designs focused on delivering personalized
guidance to users to help manage their schedule.
Top half of home
screen acts like a
Google maps by
providing personalized bus stop recommendations.
Easy access to
app features
from
navigation
Low-fidelity prototype
To prepare for usability testing, I created a low-fidelity prototype that connected the user flow of viewing a bus time and scheduling feature.
View the Durban Bus
Transport App
Usability study: parameters
Study type:
Unmoderated usability study
​
Participants:
5 participants
Location:
South Africa, remote
​
Length:
10-15 minutes
Usability study: findings
These were the main findings uncovered by the usability study:
1
Bus Ride
​
People want easy access to information about Durban Transport Services bus timetables.
2
Schedule
​
Some People found it
difficult to create a
schedule on the app.
3
Time
​
People preferred clear
indications of when the
bus will arrive on the pick
up location and time of
travel to destination.
I conducted two rounds of usability studies. Findings from the first study helped guide the designs from wireframes to mockups. The second study used a high-fidelity prototype and revealed what aspects of the mockups needed refining.
Mockups
The high-fidelity prototype followed the same user flow as the low-fidelity prototype, including design changes made
after the usability study.
Before usability studies
After usability studies
Based on the insights from
the usability studies, I
applied design changes like
providing a clear way to
schedule and create bus
alerts.
Before usability studies
After usability studies
High-fidelity prototype
Additional design changes
included adding an option
to “to track the trip” and
providing a clearer
indication of how many
long it will take to reach
destination.
​
Key mockups
Accessibility Considerations
1
Ensuring that interactive elements on the screen have clear labels that can be interpreted by screen readers for users with visual impairments
2
Focusing the home screen on the primary task or action for the user helps to clearly define the intended actions for the
user.
Takeaway
Impact:
Users are feeling more empowered because they can now make informed decisions.
What I learned:
​
Through my efforts to solve a significant issue, I discovered that following a systematic design process and considering specific user needs can lead to practical and effective solutions. Overall, this experience taught me the importance of thorough planning and
user-centered thinking.
The Next Step
1
Conduct research on how successful the app is in reaching the goal to schedule bus ride
2
Add more features for
users accessibility
Disclaimer: Muvo, Durban Transport and the related logo are trademarks of Muvo, Durban Transport. I am not endorsed by or affiliated with the municipality as a marketing or communications representative in any capacity or form. The work displayed on this website is for exemplary purposes only.