BUS+

BUS+

BUS+

BUS+ is an app that integrates various transportation modes and plans routes. In response to the needs of BUS+ Enterprise, we redesigned the app interface to enhance the user experience. The redesign resulted in improved user satisfaction and efficiency in bookmarking stations.

This project was our proposal for the Product Design Challenge organized by AAPD. Among 21 participating teams, we received high praise from experienced industry judges and won the Silver Award!

Redesign

Redesign

Redesign

Side project

Side project

Side project

App design

App design

App design

TIMELINE

Oct. - Dec. 2023

7 Weeks

TIMELINE

Oct. - Dec. 2023

7 Weeks

TIMELINE

Oct. - Dec. 2023

7 Weeks

MY ROLE

UX Researcher

UX Designer

MY ROLE

UX Researcher

UX Designer

MY ROLE

UX Researcher

UX Designer

TEAM

UI/UX Designer*6

TEAM

UI/UX Designer*6

TEAM

UI/UX Designer*6

BUS+

BUS+ is an app that integrates various transportation modes and plans routes. In response to the needs of BUS+ Enterprise, we redesigned the app interface to enhance the user experience. The redesign resulted in improved user satisfaction and efficiency in bookmarking stations.

This project was our proposal for the Product Design Challenge organized by AAPD. Among 21 participating teams, we received high praise from experienced industry judges and won the Silver Award!

Redesign

Side project

App design

TIMELINE

Oct. - Dec. 2023

7 Weeks

MY ROLE

UX Researcher

UX Designer

TEAM

UI/UX Designer*6

Background

How to optimize the transfer experience and expand the user base for a mature product

BUS+ is an app that integrates public transportation information across Taiwan, allowing people to save time on commuting and bring an elegant mobility style to busy urbanites. After 8 years of iteration and growth, the product is now in its mature phase. According to data provided by the company, users aged 18-34 account for 70% of the total user base. The company aims to expand the product service to other demographics and enhance the experience of public transportation transfers.

The key metric for the product is “Save stops”

The company has observed from data that when users successfully save one or more bus stops, the product's stickiness significantly increases. This is because after users have saved bus stops, there is a high probability that they will repeatedly open the app to check bus stop dynamics in the future. Additionally, BUS+'s main source of revenue is advertising, so when the product's Daily Active Users (DAU) increase, advertising revenue also increases accordingly. Therefore, optimizing the guidance for favoriting bus stops is crucial for improving product retention and revenue.

Seeking cost-effective, high-value design solutions

Due to current staffing constraints, the company currently only has one product designer, one IOS engineer doubling as a backend engineer, and one Android engineer, resulting in limited development resources. Additionally, there are no major feature updates or future development plans in the near term; the focus is primarily on maintaining quality. Therefore, we are looking for design proposals that balance low development costs with high business value and consider strategies to retain users and expand the user base.

Background

How to optimize the transfer experience and expand the user base for a mature product

BUS+ is an app that integrates public transportation information across Taiwan, allowing people to save time on commuting and bring an elegant mobility style to busy urbanites. After 8 years of iteration and growth, the product is now in its mature phase. According to data provided by the company, users aged 18-34 account for 70% of the total user base. The company aims to expand the product service to other demographics and enhance the experience of public transportation transfers.

The key metric for the product is “Save stops”

The company has observed from data that when users successfully save one or more bus stops, the product's stickiness significantly increases. This is because after users have saved bus stops, there is a high probability that they will repeatedly open the app to check bus stop dynamics in the future. Additionally, BUS+'s main source of revenue is advertising, so when the product's Daily Active Users (DAU) increase, advertising revenue also increases accordingly. Therefore, optimizing the guidance for favoriting bus stops is crucial for improving product retention and revenue.

Seeking cost-effective, high-value design solutions

Due to current staffing constraints, the company currently only has one product designer, one IOS engineer doubling as a backend engineer, and one Android engineer, resulting in limited development resources. Additionally, there are no major feature updates or future development plans in the near term; the focus is primarily on maintaining quality. Therefore, we are looking for design proposals that balance low development costs with high business value and consider strategies to retain users and expand the user base.

My Role

In this project, I collaborated with five other designers. My primary roles were as a UX Researcher and UX Designer, responsible for tasks such as defining user interview topics, conducting interviews, competitive analysis, establishing a Functional Map, User flow, defining usability test topics, conducting and analyzing the results of usability tests.

Process

User Research

User and non-user interviews

We interviewed 8 individuals, aged between 18 and 35, who commute using public transportation, and tested their user experience on BUS+. We compiled the strengths and pain points of BUS+ based on their feedback.

Persona
Non-fixed route
Fixed route

Goal

  1. Based on the information provided by the company, the product's North Star metric is “Save stops,” so we adjusted the process for bookmarking bus stops to make it easier for users to access this feature.

  1. Enhancing the user experience of the existing product by addressing user needs and pain points identified through interviews.

  1. Improving the functionality for searching and scheduling trips to attract users interested in non-fixed routes.

Problem

While the product features are comprehensive, the complexity of both functionality and visual elements renders it inefficient to use

For instance, in the case of “Arrival Notice” and “Save stops,” these functionalities are only visible after clicking into the bus stop, causing some users to spend a lot of time searching for these options or even fail to discover the 'Save stops' function altogether.

The integration of transportation services across different counties and cities is a great feature, but the hierarchy is confusing

Transportation modes of the same hierarchy are placed in different locations. For example, the metro routes are located in the bottom navigation, which can cause confusion.

To serve commuters across different regions and age groups, it's necessary to enhance the product's universality

The abundance of information makes it difficult to interpret, displaying all buses with the same name across Taiwan at once without filtering for users.

Outdated interface design can affect the stickiness of usage among the younger demographic

Competitive Audit

Competitive Audit

Competitive Audit

Competitive Audit

User Journey Map

We categorize users into fixed route users and non-fixed route users based on their usage scenarios.

Fixed Route / Commuting Daily
Non-fixed Route / Weekend Trip

Design

Functional Map
User flow

We streamlined the process for "Save Stops" and introduced a feature and flow for saving trips.

Wireframe
Design System

Deliverable

1-Enhancing the user experience of core requirements to increase flexibility and efficiency in usage.
2-Realign feature layout and search logic.
3-Offering preferred transportation options and feedback mechanisms.
4-Establish design system and redesign icons to enhance interface design coherence.

Outcome

Usability Test
Test Results
The time to save bus stops has been significantly reduced

The average time spent on saving bus stops has decreased by 71 seconds. Half of the users indicated that the location for the save stop function has become easier to find and use

Adjusting the search process has increased efficiency

Merging the bus inquiry and route planning search bars allows users to find routes more efficiently

Both users and non-users have seen improvements in satisfaction
User feedback
BUS+ owners and competition judges feedback

Future

  1. Expand user base

Due to time constraints in this competition, we didn't have the opportunity to understand the needs of other age groups who use public transportation. In the future, we hope to gather feedback from these users, analyze the data, optimize route planning, and other services accordingly. Additionally, we aim to develop user tutorials and promote them to users of other generations.

  1. Integrate transportation management platform

Starting from Bus+, leveraging its years of focus on consumer-centric strategies and collecting sufficient user data, we aim to integrate cross-industry services. Once Bus+ matures and gathers ample user data, we aspire to collaborate with governments and transportation providers. Through user and bus data, we aim to create a platform that facilitates more efficient collaboration among all parties involved.

Contact

Please feel free to contact me

Contact

Please feel free to contact me

Contact

Please feel free to contact me

Contact

Please feel free to contact me

© 2024 Alicia All Rights Reserved

© 2024 Alicia All Rights Reserved

© 2024 Alicia All Rights Reserved

© 2024 Alicia All Rights Reserved