A2B Mobile App

Travel sustainably, effortlessly!

Role: UX researcher & designer

Project Summary

Context

A2B is my first school project, promoting sustainable transportation in the local city, Karlskrona, Sweden.

Design challenge

Designing human-centered solutions that inspire individual’s behavior change to adopt more sustainable transportation practices.

Solution

A mobile app that supports behavior change by combining:

conventional travel app functionality
sustainability-oriented travel options
gamification
rewarding incentives

Role

UX researcher & designer

Team & timeline

7 UX designers, hybrid
10 weeks  September-November 2023

My contributions

UX research
- Desk research
- Guerrilla Interview
- In-depth Interview
- Synthesis
UX design
- Ideation & Evaluation
- User stories & flow
UI design
- Sketching
- Wireframing
- Design system
- Prototyping

Design Process

UX Research

Desk research findings

Keeping the hypotheses in mind, we approached the target users - local residents.

Key questions

Interview overview

Guerilla Interview

Daytime on weekdays
Local residents in the downtown area
18 interviews
- 11 female & 8 male, aged 18-70
- including both regular bus riders and car drivers

In-depth Interview

7 interviews
- 4 female & 3 male, aged 26-51
- 30-45 minutes/each
- dominantly car drivers
Props
- timeline chart
- maps

Key Insights

Trust is long lost in mass transportation system.

But, local residents are open to try better alternatives, as long as it meets their needs.

“Anything but public transportation is good.”

Trust is long lost in mass transportation system.

But, local residents are open to try better alternatives, as long as it meets their needs.

“Anything but public transportation is good.”

Trust is long lost in mass transportation system.

But, local residents are open to try better alternatives, as long as it meets their needs.

“Anything but public transportation is good.”

Reality constraints and optimistic bias win over environmental awareness.

Local residents are highly aware of environmental impact, yet the reality constraints and optimistic bias make them prioritize flexibility and simplicity.

“With kids, the car is for to be home on time for dinner.”

“We're not that kind of people who take weekend trips to New York, so I guess we're on the better part of the scale.”

Reality constraints and optimistic bias win over environmental awareness.

Local residents are highly aware of environmental impact, yet the reality constraints and optimistic bias make them prioritize flexibility and simplicity.

“With kids, the car is for to be home on time for dinner.”

“We're not that kind of people who take weekend trips to New York, so I guess we're on the better part of the scale.”

Reality constraints and optimistic bias win over environmental awareness.

Local residents are highly aware of environmental impact, yet the reality constraints and optimistic bias make them prioritize flexibility and simplicity.

“With kids, the car is for to be home on time for dinner.”

“We're not that kind of people who take weekend trips to New York, so I guess we're on the better part of the scale.”

Geographic condition is another key factor.

As a small city by the sea, geographic conditions, such as islands, hills, and wind, need to be taken into consideration.

“Driving 12km out to work when it's such a short distance, just cross the water...”

Geographic condition is another key factor.

As a small city by the sea, geographic conditions, such as islands, hills, and wind, need to be taken into consideration.

“Driving 12km out to work when it's such a short distance, just cross the water...”

Geographic condition is another key factor.

As a small city by the sea, geographic conditions, such as islands, hills, and wind, need to be taken into consideration.

“Driving 12km out to work when it's such a short distance, just cross the water...”

Challenge accepted!

How might we enable local residents to transfer to sustainable transportation with the least impact on their daily routine?

UX Design

Brainstorming & Evaluation

Ideation Method

Evaluation Method

Key features & values (P0-P4 framework)

Trip planner

Offers options combining different transportation methods, enabling users to find the most time-efficient alternatives fast

Trip planner

Offers options combining different transportation methods, enabling users to find the most time-efficient alternatives fast

Trip planner

Offers options combining different transportation methods, enabling users to find the most time-efficient alternatives fast

Easy ticket transactions with updated prices

Offers discounted ticket prices for recurring trips and through package deals

Easy ticket transactions with updated prices

Offers discounted ticket prices for recurring trips and through package deals

Easy ticket transactions with updated prices

Offers discounted ticket prices for recurring trips and through package deals

Leaderboard & point collection

Brings a sense of reward to changing habits, and leads to actual discounts, further satisfying user desire to lower expenses

Leaderboard & point collection

Brings a sense of reward to changing habits, and leads to actual discounts, further satisfying user desire to lower expenses

Leaderboard & point collection

Brings a sense of reward to changing habits, and leads to actual discounts, further satisfying user desire to lower expenses

Weather recommendation

Gains a sense of control, and maintains good daily routine flow and to be on time

Weather recommendation

Gains a sense of control, and maintains good daily routine flow and to be on time

Weather recommendation

Gains a sense of control, and maintains good daily routine flow and to be on time

Persona

Our persona is based on Interviewee #7.

Patrik

IT Manager, 46 yr

📍Karlskrona, Sweden

“I think we would probably sell one of our cars if the buses did go more regularly and more wide through the whole community.”

Description

Patrik lives with his fiancée and 3 kids (3, 5, and 14 years old) and 1 dog on the island Saltö.

Daily life

Works at a large company located in Verkö island outside the city.
Normally drives to work in his own car. Picks up kids in the kindergarten in Stumholmen.
Sometimes leaves and drops off the dog at daycare in Kungsmarken.
Gets to know the A2B app through friends

Pain points

Patrik has 2 cars at home, but plans to keep just 1 car to be more sustainable. They're aware of their environmental impact through driving, but haven't got a good way to change the habit.
Goals (financial/emotional): Remains the same comfort but at cheaper cost. Include daily exercise in his commuting.

User flows

Sketches & lo-fi screens

Leaderboard screen by me

Ticket screen by Henrietta Silvanius

Trip planner screen by Mia Süslich

Design system

14pt, Regular
14pt, Semi Bold
18pt, Semi Bold
32pt, Semi Bold

Primary - renewal, practicality, morality, sustainability

Secondary - with its high saturation, harmoniously highlights essential elements

Accent - highlights CTAs and decorative images, and brightens up the whole visual experience

Hi-fi screens

My takeaways

Insight writing is a hard nut to crack.

Our team struggled generating “proper” insights. Elevating raw data into compelling narratives that effectively communicate and inspire design proved challenging.

Insight writing is a hard nut to crack.

Our team struggled generating “proper” insights. Elevating raw data into compelling narratives that effectively communicate and inspire design proved challenging.

Insight writing is a hard nut to crack.

Our team struggled generating “proper” insights. Elevating raw data into compelling narratives that effectively communicate and inspire design proved challenging.

The “why” is elusive.

It’s easy to miss to provide robust supporting data, especially from interviewee quotes. The insights then risk lacking clear context, dwelling more in fancy wordplay than depth.

The “why” is elusive.

It’s easy to miss to provide robust supporting data, especially from interviewee quotes. The insights then risk lacking clear context, dwelling more in fancy wordplay than depth.

The “why” is elusive.

It’s easy to miss to provide robust supporting data, especially from interviewee quotes. The insights then risk lacking clear context, dwelling more in fancy wordplay than depth.

Balancing process and content development is tricky but achievable.

As UX research newcomers, we prioritized team building, potentially compromising content depth. Balancing teamwork and content development demanded careful consideration.

Balancing process and content development is tricky but achievable.

As UX research newcomers, we prioritized team building, potentially compromising content depth. Balancing teamwork and content development demanded careful consideration.

Balancing process and content development is tricky but achievable.

As UX research newcomers, we prioritized team building, potentially compromising content depth. Balancing teamwork and content development demanded careful consideration.

What I'd do differently next time

Enforce better alignment

Align knowledge and skills acquired from lectures among teammates to minimize misunderstandings in the design process.

Enforce better alignment

Align knowledge and skills acquired from lectures among teammates to minimize misunderstandings in the design process.

Enforce better alignment

Align knowledge and skills acquired from lectures among teammates to minimize misunderstandings in the design process.

Refine interview script

Revise the interview script more to align questions with key objectives, excluding those better suited for quantitative research.

Refine interview script

Revise the interview script more to align questions with key objectives, excluding those better suited for quantitative research.

Refine interview script

Revise the interview script more to align questions with key objectives, excluding those better suited for quantitative research.

Enhance data review

Allocate additional time to review raw data right after interviews to enhance data solidity during synthesis.

Enhance data review

Allocate additional time to review raw data right after interviews to enhance data solidity during synthesis.

Enhance data review

Allocate additional time to review raw data right after interviews to enhance data solidity during synthesis.

Impact

This project, a a visionary one, helps establish a solid foundation for my UX research & design practices and team work skills. I received a recommendation from a teammate:

“Wu-chiao impressed me during our project with her understanding and knowledge in the design processes, tools and methods to use. Not only she clearly sees patterns in our research data, she also pays great attention to details and can pull out the most relevant quote from loads of data. Another of Wu-chiao’s great qualities is her inclusive nature where she she encourages everyone speak their voice and take the different perspectives into consideration for the best collaboration and end result. Last but not least she has a great talent to find insightful allegories that get people thinking!”

- Henrietta Silvanius | former colleague | co-owner | Nuelab