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, with the following 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 it's not entirely hopeless.

Due to past negative experiences, local residents are hesitant about their mass transit system. However, they express willingness to try better alternatives if these meet their needs.

“Anything but public transportation is good.”

Trust is long lost in mass transportation system, but it's not entirely hopeless.

Due to past negative experiences, local residents are hesitant about their mass transit system. However, they express willingness to try better alternatives if these meet their needs.

“Anything but public transportation is good.”

Trust is long lost in mass transportation system, but it's not entirely hopeless.

Due to past negative experiences, local residents are hesitant about their mass transit system. However, they express willingness to try better alternatives if these meet their needs.

“Anything but public transportation is good.”

Reality constraints wins over environmental awareness.

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

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

Reality constraints wins over environmental awareness.

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

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

Reality constraints wins over environmental awareness.

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

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

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

Ideation & Evaluation

Our team of seven used the 6-3-5 method (adapted as 7-3-5) to quickly generate a wide range of ideas, followed by dot voting and a thorough review using VPC to ensure alignment with users' needs. Key concepts include building trust in mass transit, offering incentives, fostering social connections, and providing location and weather info support, all aimed at seamlessly integrating the app into daily life.

Ideation Method

Evaluation Method

Key features & values

The chosen ideas were refined into key features, including an enhanced trip planner for combined transportation searches and weather recommendations, addressing time and routine efficiency. Discounted ticket packages add convenience, while a leaderboard and point collection incentivize behavior change and foster connection.

Trip planner & weather recommendation

Offers options combining different transportation methods, enabling users to quickly find the most time-efficient alternatives. Weather recommendations are also incorporated to provide a sense of control and maintain a smooth daily routine.

Trip planner & weather recommendation

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.

Persona

Our persona, derived from interviewees, reflects their backgrounds, family status, daily routines, and unique transportation routes across Karlskrona's islands, effectively representing our target users' conditions.

Patrik

IT Manager, 46 yr

📍Karlskrona, Sweden

“I think we would probably sell one of our cars if the buses do go more regularly and cover a wider range of the city.”

Description

Patrik lives with his fiancée, three kids (ages 3, 5, and 14), and a dog on Saltö Island in Karlskrona. He learns about the A2B app through local friends and is interested in trying it to reduce his household's environmental impact and expenses.

Daily life

Works at a large company located in Verkö island right outside the downtown area.
Normally drives to work in his own car in the morning, and picks up kids in the kindergarten on another island, Stumholmen, in the afternoon.
Sometimes leaves and drops off the dog at daycare in the Kungsmarken district.

Needs & pain points

Having to travel across islands daily makes time management a hard nut to crack. Patrik has been turning to driving to ensure a smooth daily routine. With efficiency in mind, Patrik's household owns 2 cars, but he wants to keep just 1 car to be more sustainable.

Goals

Patrik and his partner want to maintain their carefully built daily routine to preserve their current life flow, while also striving to be more sustainable and economical, if possible.

Sketches and lo-fi screen user flows

To create a clear overview of the user journey and plan the workflow for hi-fi screens, the team quickly moved into a stage of sketching and building lo-fi screen user flows. The core flows, including journey search and ticket purchase, were prioritized, along with sub-flows for the leaderboard and discount checking.

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

Final design

Through research, the team discovered that while Karlskrona residents are highly aware of the environmental impact of their transportation, dissatisfaction with the local transit system, time constraints, and the city’s unique geography make it difficult to envision a feasible, sustainable, and economical option that fits seamlessly into daily routines.

Our solution introduces a travel search feature similar to conventional tools but expands options by integrating sustainable transportation methods with precise time calculations to support efficient planning. A point-collection system and discounts redeemable at local stores provide added incentives, while a leaderboard and friend-adding functions foster connection and encourage long-term use.

Overall, the solution offers a simple, user-friendly interface tailored to Karlskrona’s geography and the needs of its residents, seamlessly embedding sustainable transportation into daily life.

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.

While we're tackling a human-centered design challenge, it's important to also consider the broader context, such as geographical factors.

The “why” is elusive.

While we're tackling a human-centered design challenge, it's important to also consider the broader context, such as geographical factors.

The “why” is elusive.

While we're tackling a human-centered design challenge, it's important to also consider the broader context, such as geographical factors.

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