The commuter conundrum: streamlining västtrafiks digital journey
Usability testing / UX Research / Wireframing / UI Design
When
November 2022 - February 2023
client
IT-Högskolan Göteborg
The summary
As a part of a larger project we were to do usability tests on Västtrafiks different platforms and deliver a presentation on the data provided. Through UX research I conducted multiple usability tests on users to find the parts of Västtrafiks systems that were not optimized for a streamlined user journey and present them in an informative way. Following the presentation of the issues of the user we were to deliver viable improvement suggestions based on our findings. Working mainly in Figma, me and my team produced several wireframes as well as hi-fi prototypes for Västtrafik’s app, countering our findings and providing for a more pleasant user experience while using the app. These improvements were later presented to our UX project lead.
The user
Commuters using Västtrafik's services
Role
UX Researcher / UX/UI Designer
The challenge
Västtrafik is a public transport company providing their services to the region of Västra Götaland through buses, trains and so on. Over the years the company's digital presence has evolved and thus put more and more effort in developing their digital tools. These tools includes their app "To-Go appen", where you can manage ticket purchases, trip planning and information collection, as well as their website https://www.vasttrafik.se/ where you can plan trips and get more information about the company's business and their role in the region of Västra Götaland. As the digital field continues to grow exponentially, this brings along new challenges for companies trying to keep their digital prescence updated.
The process
In this study, we conducted usability tests on Västtrafik’s systems. We spent a day analyzing the platforms and developed user scenarios that were challenging yet tailored to elicit proper qualitative data. The scenarios were evaluated using the 5Es of usability and various metrics were set for data collection.
Decision was made to conduct our usability tests remotely through session recordings with us acting as UX researchers semi-moderating the sessions. This was the most convenient way for the team, as it allowed us to do multiple tests back-to-back from the comforts of our own home.
To streamline the collection during the usability tests, we created a questionnaire in Google Forms that included usability metric questions such as task and test satisfaction as well as user expectation. The focus was on measuring the overall user attitudes towards Västtrafik’s systems. This questionnaire was used in tandem with the usability test by the user. Between every scenario we put them through, they got to enter answers to questions that gave the team more qualitative data as part of the testing.
By reviewing recordings of the testing, I could collect quantitative metrics such as completion rate, SUM, clicks/pageviews and task time. This approach saved time and resources for other aspects of the project.
The results showed that users faced challenges in ticket purchase options and issues with UX writing both on the website and app. These findings were presented to our class and UX designer representatives from Västtrafik. Later, we were invited to Västtrafik’s main office in Gothenburg to present the findings to their tech teams.
We then started the UI process when we had all the teams entire findings laid out before us. The team were tasked with taking three of these and develop improvements upon them to be presented to the UX project lead at a later stage.
Through the use of the double diamond process the team defined our findings and generated potential solutions and we started to create improvements for these. During the process, we created a student option for single and period tickets in the mobile ticket interface. The apps travel planning tab was also cleared from clutter to present a more clean, structured page designed with hierarchy strips in mind.
I conducted usability tests on the mid-fi wireframes and received mostly positive feedback on the improvements. However one of the initial improvements was not received as positively, so we modified it based on feedback from the usability tests. We embraced a minimalist design philosophy to adjust the line spacing, font-size and positioning, as well as removed the location-dependent icons to enhance the readability of the tab. We also revealed an opportunity to personalize predetermined travel types from the app’s profile page, streamlining the user journey through eliminating the need to adjust travel type for every ticket purchase. A hi-fi prototype of this was created and was appreciated when shown to users during another round of testing.
Our improvements were presented to the UX project lead and were well received in most aspects. One tidbit that needed improving upon was the presentation itself as we didn’t show that much of the prototype in action.
Lessons learned:
Teamwork: Makes the dream work
Being my first larger project, I've come to realize that cooperation and transparency while working in teams is vital to a projects wellbeing. Through taking from the different team members strength and reinforcing each others weaker points we efficiently completed each other and could work jointly towards a common goal.
Design process: Work smarter, not harder
Adhering to this and structurizing the tasks through a kanban board made completing each task more accessible and took away the fear of the looming giant that was the project as a whole.
Delivery optimization:
As mentioned our focus was in showing the improvements in still frames only. Learning by our mistakes, I've made sure to present more of the prototype in action, as this is probably the most effective unique selling point while presenting to clients in most cases.
Usability testing:
As many other situations nowadays, technology has a tendency of acting up when we need it the most. I've come to realize that before every usability test as a UX researcher, double- and triple check your material beforehand! One has to remember that the usability tests have a time limit, and your user might have other things planned. Make sure that everything works before going into the sessions so that everything runs smoothly.