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Around App - Ticketing & Transit Assistant For International Travelers
Mobile• Product Design • UX Research • Wireframes • Prototyping
Project Overview
Around App is a brainchild cultivated during my short yet extensive trip in Europe during the summer, which covered four very different countries/regions within the span of two weeks.
A key problem that I identified during my travels was the distinctive transport system between each countries, causing multiple troubles while trying to either purchase a ticket or navigate within the public transit system. The Around App is a response to these issues aiming to reduce the hassle of international travels for users.
Role & Contribution
Around App is my first solo project for my senior interaction design portfolio class. Personally in charge of the entire project, starting with the ideation of the product to a series of UX research and design iterations, while covering all aspects of designs from UX to UI.
The Challenge
of Americans find traveling abroad stressful.
- Boston Globe, Feb 2023
According to my personal travel experience and other travelers’ experiences I came across online, I identified a common consensus that suggests that most people find traveling abroad troublesome and thus hinder them from seeing the world and experiencing foreign cultures/landscapes.
How are we able to ease their stress and make traveling in foreign countries more accessible to the public through product and UX design?
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Understanding the Target User
In order to explore and understand users’ pain points during international/foreign travels, I decided to initiate my research with a series of qualitative surveys from people I have known who have traveled internationally within two years.
Based on the survey questionnaire, I was able to conduct 15 interviews and gather information regarding each interviewee’s frustration during their stay abroad. Below are three interviewees’ responses summarized.
Upon analyzing all entries, I was able to establish a few common frustrations experienced by the majority of interviewees. My research findings are as follows:
Complex Fare Structures: Different countries and cities often have intricate fare structures, including various ticket types, zones, and pricing schemes. Understanding these can be confusing for travelers.
Ticketing Process: The process of buying tickets can vary widely, from using ticket machines to dealing with ticket counters. Foreigners may find this process challenging, especially when instructions are not in their native language.
Ticket Validation: Understanding how and when to validate tickets, especially on trams and buses, can be tricky for newcomers. Failure to validate tickets may result in fines.
Trouble Navigating Public Transit Systems: It’s hard for foreigners to get around new cities without guides on how to use local transportation methods such as trains and buses.
Design Process: Guiding Principles
Through my research, I was able to conceptualize the scope of my project: An app that aids foreign travelers with getting around their travel destinations through local public transportation options. The product should also focus on the three following principles:
01
Simplify
Ticketing Process
Reduce the stress of users when trying to purchase transit tickets.
02
Emphasize
on Education
Educate users on how to use public transit systems.
03
Be Accessible & Intuitive to Use
Enhance learnability & efficiency for travelers of all age groups.
Design Process: Initial Strategy & Wireframes
My initial design thinking upon completing my research and establishing design guidelines is to build a travel itinerary app that would allow users to create detailed travel plans by marking their travel destination while being able to purchase according transit tickets for their trips. Bellow is the user journey map, information architecture, and wireframes for my original concept of what the product will include.
Design Iteration: Strategy & Wireframes
After rounds of critiques and suggestions from mentors, it is clear that my initial design was way too expansive and tried to cover too many various aspects. Instead, it should narrow down its focus and avoid competition with other major travel planning apps. Thus, I made some iterations around the established design artifacts to emphasize the product’s functionality as a utilitarian tool designated for transiting in foreign countries/cities.
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Design Process: Visual Directions
Upon clarifying the product’s contents, it’s time to decide what it will look like. Similar to the previous UX section, the UI portion of the product also underwent a few rounds of critics in order to determine the best visual approach, from color applications to typography selection. Bellow are three distinct directions for the product.
Design Iteration: Visual Designs
Direction 3 was selected after rounds of reviews of the design, for its use of a dark background as a clear contrast between the contents for purposes of accessibility. Below are screen designs according to the original visual direction based on Direction 3. Through several design critiques and revisions, there were a couple of issues regarding the existing visual direction that need to be addressed in order for the product to be more simplified and intuitive for the users.
Details needed to be fine-tuned in order for the product to be more reflective of the established design principles. Mainly revolving around the change of typography to Helvetica Neue and the adjustment of colors for better accessibility and resemblance of a transit service app.
Design Process: High Fidelity Prototype
The final prototyping of the product focuses on the three main features or user flows established in the user journey map as well as information architecture. Flow 1 consists of onboarding to purchasing transit tickets after an AI-assisted questionnaire while maintaining the ability to switch between different cities or countries. Flow 2 focuses on the educational portion of the product which provides the user with a direct visual guide for how to use the local transportation system based on their selected city/country. Flow 3 provides users a visual-oriented guide for their input designations, giving references and points to look out for during their transit in an unfamiliar system.
Flow 1: Onboarding
Upon signing in to the app for the first time, the app will automatically locate the user's geographical location as their travel destination with a CTA button prompting them to purchase according public transit tickets through a series of integrated AI questionaries. Users may also choose to switch between cities by tapping on the city name.
Flow 2: Ticketing Through Questionnaire
By responding to the proposed question, the app will automatically calculate the most fitting ticket option for your trip, allowing you to purchase the quantity needed plus the option to add the purchased tickets to Apple Wallet. Tickets can also be accessed through the ticket icon located at the bottom of the homepage.
Flow 3: Learning Transit Tips
Upon completing flow one, the user will now be able to access the transit tips feature of the Around App. Transit tips allow the user to learn the fundamentals of their travel destination step by step with visual aids and concise descriptions.
Flow 4: Traveling with Transit Guide
The transit guide feature offers a unique approach to navigation within cities, prioritizing visual guides such as signs from the transit systems, instead of solely focusing on using maps which might be inconvenient for foreign travelers. The transit guide allows users to input a destination while changing their starting point at will, while the system generates a step-by-step guide including signs to look out for during their transit.
User Testing & Feedbacks
After finishing the final version of the prototypes, I reached out to the initial 15 interviewees for their thoughts and opinions on the product. I conducted a brief survey upon each round of prototype demonstrations with all of the interviewees giving out positive feedback claiming that the features of the app address their concerns identified during the original surveys. There are also some suggestions for how I can improve the product which I will be addressing for Around App to be more refined and tailored to the needs of the user.
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