BIKE SHARE TORONTO
Bike Share Toronto is a bike sharing program powered by the PBSC App. It can replace short trips made by car, offer a unique way for residents and visitors to explore their surroundings, among other benefits.
Project Timeline
This was a General Assembly UXDI project that lasted two weeks. It was a collaborative group project of four (Daniel, Vishal, Sam, and Teresa).
I worked on the presentation, storytelling, UX research, usability testing, the prototype.
The Goal
To identify user challenges and come up with UX solutions for the App. As Bikeshare Toronto grows how might we find users’ pain points and elevate their experiences.
DISCOVER
My team and I started off by exploring the app and using the bikes around the city to get a holistic view of the business. Then we moved on to setting up a schedule with one week of research followed by one week of design. The research methods executed were:
Interviews: Conducted 30 minute interviews with employees at Bike Share Toronto (3), a first time user of the product (1), annual membership users (5), and casual users (5). These were done infront of docking stations and on calls.
Contextual Inquiry: Observed and recorded employees activity on-site in order to understand the business processes, observed and recorded user’s day-to-day experience using the app.
Competitive Analysis: Documented common design patterns and information architecture for leading bike sharing programs and similar systems users were familiar with including Lime, Bay Wheels, and Uber.
Synthesis
After gathering as much data as possible in the first week, we synthesized our findings over the weekend to prepare for design the following week. From the interviews we created an affinity map and identified key challenges, goals, and insights.
Also, during our research we found that from 2019-2020 ridership for casual users went up by 79% while annual pass users went up by only 1%.
As Bikeshare Toronto strives for increase in annual membership, we decided to take this opportunity to focus on the casual user type and look for opportunities to help them convert to annual membership keeping the business goals in mind too.
From the interviews we conducted these were some of the insights we gathered:
“I go back and forth between google maps and the Bike Share app to plan my trips” - Emily
“I got the day pass and was not aware of the 30 minutes ride limit until I got charged” - Mariah
“I sometimes dock my bike halfway along my journey just incase I go over 30 minutes” -Jay
The User Journey
Based on user interviews and research we came up with our primary user type who is a casual user - Alex.
Alex is based in downtown Toronto and his main mode of transportation is public transit, Uber and sometimes Bikeshare. Below is his journey using the Bikeshare Toronto PBSC App. He tries to purchase a bike pass to meet up with a few friends near the CN Tower. However, there are roadblocks along the way that causes frustration and anxiety.
Alex’s journey map to the CN Tower using Bike Share
Key Pain Points:
Difficulty planning trips around docking stations - Alex needs the app to find the nearest docking station around point A and point B. However, there is no way for him to plan out his trip. For example, Alex would have to manually find the CN tower by pitching the screen instead of a search feature.
Unclear pricing - The payment method of purchasing a pass is not clear and Alex has to find it himself within the app. Also the hierarchy of information is misleading.
Anxiety during journey - Bikeshare Toronto’s business model runs on a 30 minute ride time. For example, when Alex purchases a 24 hour pass, he has access to unlimited 30 minute rides for 24 hours. There is a timer within the app during his ride which is not very accessible while he’s riding. Alex hopes he does not go over 30 minutes or else he gets charged an additional fee. This process is not clear leaving Alex feeling uninformed and anxious instead of enjoying his ride.
This is what the existing App looks like based on the key pain points.
DEFINE
The Problem:
Casual users on the go need a quick and reliable way to get from point A to point B when other modes of transportation isn’t dependable.
How might we streamline the Bike Share experience so users can get to their destination on time?
How might we support users with information when it’s relevant?
Bike Share’s Unique Value Proposition:
Users can beat traffic especially during rush hour
It is an economical way of commuting
It was important for our team to balance business needs as well as user experience values to inform our product strategy and vision. With this in mind our team came up with 3 main features:
Trip planning (This is non existent in the current app and would help with users’ overall experience of planning their trip instead of workarounds. For the business, this will drive customer retention)
Pricing (The hierarchy of information needed to be improved because users interpreted the payment plans wrong resulting in a bad experience. For the business, presenting information the right way will drive trust in the product)
Timer (There is a timer in the app but it only functions when users are least available and needs it the most. For the business, improving this feature will support the users along their journey and increase safety which is something they strive for)
We decided on these features because the existing app doesn’t hold true to the unique value proposition Bike Share has. Also we prioritized the highest impact work that would drive more annual users for the business.
Next, our team performed a 30 minutes divergent thinking exercise to explore possible solutions. Below are a few sketches that we shared on a zoom call. This was a great exercise since we were working remotely. It kick started our design process and got us excited as a team.
Divergent thinking sketches by the team (Daniel, Vishal, Sam, and Teresa)
DESIGN & TEST
We conducted a rapid prototyping exercise for each of the features and presented them to each other on Zoom. We discussed and refined our sketches for a total of 3 rounds before we decided on our final designs for user testing.
Rapid prototyping examples done as a team
Next, we conducted user testing, A/B tests and iterated our prototypes to validate our hypothesis. Below are some of the insights and results we received before we developed our final prototype:
1. Trip Planning
Since users didn’t have any way to plan their trip we added that feature based on all of our data. Apart from that we did some A/B testing and found this - Instead of having all of the docking station in the city in version 1, users preferred the clear and easy to digest version 2. They can view the docks along their route incase they want to stop early.
2. Pricing
We improved the information architecture of the pricing list under “information”.
But more importantly we also included information when user needed it when planning their trip. For example, when a user plans out their ride, there is a new call to action to buy a pass and a note to support them with information about that.
3. Timer
We updated the timer feature by implementing information on the lock screen. Although users found it helpful to have a notification before their 30 minutes is up, we got feedback that a timer was more important to them.
We empathized and iterated our prototype with a timer on the lock screen to fit our user needs. This also saves users time while using their phone on the road increasing safety which is what Bike Share strives for.
With our value proposition in hand casual users will find trust in the app with clear information and support through their Bikeshare experience:
Final UI Screens
What’s next
For the scope of this project, we focused on three key pain points. Other steps we can take are:
Consider making the PBSC app, Bikeshare website and kiosks to be consistent and familiar to users.
Conduct more user testing and broadening our users to new and annual users.
Consider real-time navigation and route suggestions within the app.