Ironhack’s Prework: Lera Nabokina_Challenge1.
Solving ticketing for UrbanGo
UrbanGo is a US based mobile application that allows users to instantly compare all travel routes in real-time across all forms of transport. Users can find the quickest route from A to B across a city, or find alternative routes based on a set of search criteria e.g. bus only routes. By integrating all travel options into a single application, UrbanGo has massively simplified city navigation and made it easy for users to work out how best to get around a city. The application also takes into account real-time delays to public transport and traffic flows and amends the results it returns based on these factors. One of the main reasons that UrbanGo has been so popular is the application user experience. UrbanGo have created a product that makes complex travel route data incredibly simple for users to understand. This is something that becomes even more valuable to users when they’re abroad and trying to navigate a foreign city for the first time.
As part of my Ironhack assignment, I was asked to look at prototyping a new feature for the UrbanGo app that solves the pain of users having to purchase different public transport tickets by different channels. I started the project by interviewing 5 regular users of public transport to better understand their view on the pain points of using city transport systems, especially when they’re aboard.
The people I spoke to share a similar set of common complaints.
No clear pricing.
“I never know how much a ticket for the tube (in London) costs — it’s seems to change based on the time of day or how far I travel but I’m not even sure. There is no clear information”.
Three out of the five people I interviewed complained that one of the most annoying things about taking a bus or tube was that there is not clear pricing. With the introduction of ‘contactless’ travel in London, people can tap their bank card to pay for a trip. Although this is hugely convenient, one of the drawbacks is that you don’t know how much the journey will cost. This is something that one person I interviewed found particularly annoying.
In a foreign country, where people often don’t speak your language, asking the price for a trip often means standing in a long queue or trying to work a ticket machine (which can be hard!).
To Tube or Not to Tube.
Two respondents spoke about the difficulty in working out if it was better value to take an Uber or public transport.
“I’m not sure if it makes more sense to pay more for an Uber or if it would be better to just take public transport which I know can sometimes be even quicker than driving on the busy central London roads, especially when there is a lot of traffic!”
This is a decision that it is hard to make when you’re not sure on the different pricing vs timing options of both forms of transport.
Waiting times are never what they seem…
This was a common complaint shared by all the people I spoke to. It seems that both Uber, busses, trains and tube operators will often display an arrival time that changes or turns out to be wrong. There is not chance for a fare refund after a ticket has been purchased and the delay incurred.
“I hate ordering an Uber and waiting for ages. I should be able to cancel without charge if my driver is late”.
“Often when I order an Uber the estimated arrival time is completely wrong, and this delays my trip”.
“When a bus is late in London, it’s really late and most bus stops don’t have electronic timetables that update you on when it’s going to arrive. It’s so annoying!’
The pain point
After speaking to people, it is clear that ‘cost’ is a key concern and frustration for people using Uber and public transport. Modern cities like London have relatively complex pricing for public transport that is based on zones, times of day, and types of transport and frequency of travel. All these variables mean it can be hard to work out the price for a trip, or how to save money on a trip by taking a different route, traveling at a different time, or using a different mode of transport. And this all leads to frustration. This frustration is amplified when a trip that has already been paid for is delayed. Although people find ‘contactless’ travel very convenient, tapping a bank card without seeing a price makes it hard to keep track of what you’re spending.
I therefore decided that the biggest pain point to solve when allowing users to purchase different public transport tickets by different channels, was clear, comparable and transparent pricing.
How to solve this problem?
In order to solve this problem, I started to research other applications that allow users to compare ‘fares’ for travel trips. After looking at a number of different applications, I decided to concentrate my focus on the Skyscanner app.
When searching for a flight using the Skyscanner app, users are presented with all airlines that fly on a route and also combinations of airlines. Pricing is always displayed around three different filters:
1. Fastest
This filter allows users to see the quickest route to a destination. It ranks flights based on the time it takes to get to a destination with the price given as a secondary consideration.
2. Cheapest
This filter shows users the cheapest way to get somewhere. This could mean multiple stops on the route and taking multiple different airlines. Cost is prioritised over the convenience of the trip.
3. Best
This filter aims to help people decide is they care more about the shortest flying time or the cost of a ticket. It also takes into account the quality of the airlines flying on a route and if it finds a great airline, flying at a discount price, this is highlighted to the user. These flights offer the best combination of speed and price.
Taking inspiration from Skyscanner, I decided that a similar approach could work for UrbanGo and be easily integrated into the apps current results page.
This idea allows UrbanGo users to now search by: Fastest, Cheapest and Best. In my prototype I changed the current ‘Suggested’ filter to ‘Fastest, with the two new additional features appearing under these results on the page.
Throughout the process of working on this project I realised the complexity that surrounds the Urban Go app and this task forced me to think about what matters to a user when looking to purchase travel ‘on app’. Urban Go does an incredible job of filtering a mass of travel route information and presenting it in a coherent and easy to understand way, but it does not offer users the chance to actually purchase travel tickets, which seems like a missed opportunity. If I was to continue working on the project, I would look to also explore how UrbanGo could help users claim refunds on delayed or cancelled travel as this was another common complaint from my interviews.
