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UX/UI
Team: solo
Duration: on-going
Tools: Figma, Google Jamboard, Canva
DoubleMap is the first-ever live bus tracking app. It was first developed as a passion project by an alumnus of Indiana University. The app was later sold to Journey Holding Corporation and became more widely used on college campuses and major cities.
Moved search option to the bottom of the home screen for easier access and functionality. Now user is able to input current location and search up nearest bus routes.
Narrow down the bus routes to avoid screen cluttering and increase usability.
Added graphic representation of the bus and walk route to provide ample information for the users to arrive at their desired location on time.
Once the user boards the bus, it will automatically transfer to this screen. This screen contains condensed information of arrival time, distance, and the next stop.
According to my personal use of DoubleMap, I already know that there are a lot of problems associated with the app. However, relying on my experience alone is not enough. Therefore, I decided to delve deeper into the app by interviewing first-time users and create a survey for those who have used the app before.
"I often have to cross-reference with Google Maps when I use DoubleMap."
"DoubleMap is so confusing, I only learned how to use it in my junior year."
"I never used DoubleMap because it looks daunting."
🎓 Alexa is a graduate student studying at Indiana University, Bloomington.
🚗 Takes the bus sometimes because it's difficult finding parking on campus
🏡 Lives far from campus
📱 Never used DoubleMap before because of how confusing it looked
I specifically chose an interviewee who has never used DoubleMap to walkthrough her journey finding the correct bus route to the given destination from the given current location. Her process highlights where DoubleMap needs to improve in order to provide the best experience for a first-time user.
Alexa's Task: Find the bus route that takes you from Franklin Hall to Wells Library
When opening the app, it's confusing and overwhelming because the screen is overcrowded with numerous bus routes and no tutorial/introduction as to what to do first.
She navigated to the "search" icon and typed in her destination. She randomly chose a destination because were no details available...
She tried searching again, this time clicking on a different stop, and it led her to a page that tells her bus 10 goes to Wells Library and it will arrive in 12-14 minutes.
"But where is the bus stop nearest to me?"
She returned to the first page, and pressed on the hamburger icon on the upper right corner which takes her to the menu. She then clicked on "Select Route" which takes her to the next page.
She turned off all the bus routes by pressing on "Show None", and then turned on only the toggle for Bus 10.
She went back to the home screen by clicking on the hamburger icon and the "Map" option. It displays Bus 10 route and where the bus is at currently.
She then zoomed in to the blue dot, where it shows Her current location and found two black dots which indicates the bus stops.
Clicking on one of the two black dots, it takes her to a screen with a list of buses that stops there and when they are arriving. Bus 10 is now 23-25 minutes away from the bus stop.
Nowhere to input where the user wants to go from, which makes it more difficult to determine if the bus route passes where the user is.
The entire process of finding which bus to take for a first-time user was 10 minutes.
When users ran into a problem, there was no guidance or directions.
Titles, headings, paragraphs, lists, buttons are all similar font sizes. Inconsistencies with colors for clickable texts.
The initial sketches focused on the fixing the functionality of the app. The main function of the app is for the user to be able to get to where they need to go. Therefore, it's important to have these features on the main screen where it's the most accessible.
The prototype reflects the sketches with some adjustments to include more information.
This is an on-going passion project that I'm working on. Future updates will include User Testing, Iterations, Final Prototype, and Reflections.
