Mobu app
This project introduces an app to improve urban mobility in São Paulo, Brazil, using technology and smartphones through a collaborative application grounded by crowdsourcing methodology to solve daily problems in São Paulo with public and private transport integrating with user’s daily tasks.
Suelem Lee - UX Researcher
Maitê Hotoshi - UX Designer
Kauê Fonseca - Game Designer
Pedro Sant'Anna - Developer
Thiago M. Torres - UX Designer
My Role
Pitch team consists of 5 UX designers.
My major role was as UX researcher, responsible for user research and usability testing, however working as a team on experience strategy, all major deliverables and presenting it to the client. We’ve worked during January to March 2015.
Focusing on the problem
It was clear that São Paulo, one of the largest contemporary cities of the world is a place of circulation and dispersion, of privacy and indifference, places of restlessness and turbulence. The question of mobility was central to the discussion of urban space, since it is the heart of metropolitan city evolution.
Method used
We’ve started by conducting deep ethnographic research to understand the city commuters needs and frustrations, to fully understand what are the greatest problems to be tackled.
Quantitative Survey
We’ve conducted a quantitative research with TypeForm tool with analytical objectives on most used commute modal by each profiles, what are the major emotional relation to the city and public transportation, and what are the percentage used by modal. The questionare consisted in 21 questions, written and multiple questions.
Measurement corrected our initial misguided ideas about the real proportion of people who travels by public transportations. Previously assumed as the automobile as the main medium, survey showed that 74% of 130 people use public transportations to commute.
Almost 20% of population takes about 2 hours to commute to work.
"A hectic place like Sao Paulo is best portrayed as a city in motion."
Interviews
We’ve held 12 qualitative in-depht interviews with citizen commuters with territorial and modal dissemblance. Within the range of 15 to 35, with different reasons for mobility, uses two or more modals of transportations and uses public transportation for leisure and work commute. Major questions consists with the following, in order of priority:
How do you chose your modal of transportation?
What do you most enjoy/hate about transportation in Sao Paulo?
What would your ideal commute would be like?
Do you have any commute story?
We’ve collected data on individuals personal urban histories, perspective on mobility in Sao Paulo and experiences with the sole reason to understand the real benefits and pains of public transportations. The predominant themes were compacted city, faster and shorter commute, bus corridor, alternatives of modal available and better time flow rather than transit flow.
Resource level needed to conduct interviews were low, since we conducted with volunteers and friends. Only resource needed were time and smartphones to record interview.
Problematic identified
Mobility obstacles
Traffic jams, the difficulty of mobility are not the great distances but the problematic access to transportation.
Centralized system
Greater concentrations at centre of metropolitan areas
Turbulence
Turbulence meant as the immobility and the friction in which interrupts, slows and even blocks the flow of mobility around the city.
The greatest problem and frustration identified, was the question of turbulence. One brazilian cultural behaviour considered as a bad reputation worldwide, is that we are often late. We often use as an excuse the “unexpected” traffic jams, poor conditions of public transportation as well as bad weather conditions. Turbulence meant as a problem driver are the unexpected mobility conflicts such as traffic conditions, accidents on the way to your destinations, public transport malfunctions and conditions, in which in many cases can interrupt your scheduled tasks and appoinments.
The challenge
How might we improve experience for urban commuters when arranged daily tasks with transport mobility?
Personas
We’ve created 3 personas to help imagine and prioritize features, and they helped keep a diverse stakeholders in mind as we designed user’s experience.
Value proposition
User profile/Customer segment:
In order to have a deep understanding of outcomes and benefits our user’s wants, we’ve used the Strategyzer’s customer segment canvas. Including functional utility, social gains, positive emotions and cost savings in intersection with risks as potential bad outcomes. To successfully fulfill customer needs and tackling past pains and frustrations.
User Journey
We conducted a range of interviews with stakeholders, co-workers and friends, looked to the twitterphere to gauge what people were saying, and utilized official reports from IBGE to understand users motivations. These varied research techniques helped to quickly gain insights into the needs of our users and gave us a concrete understanding of environment and workflows.
The vision
Our service consists of a mobility assistant, in which facilitates public transportation commute around the city. To this end, our application aims to generate alternative ways of locomotion, if notified with possible transit hazards.
Mental Models
We were able to extract requirements as we categorizes and segmented the tasks into behavioral affinities and aligned content and features. Visualizing what existing functionality and content would be useful, what tasks needed supporting and what opportunities were available to innovate.
By prioritizing each requirements in relation with personas needs, tech feasibility and business objectives, feature roadmap can easily inform our phasing strategy and product backlog.
Wireframes
High level wireframes were designed using the concept of Material Design, created by Google, which proposes common interface defaults and “metaphors” across platforms, as well as a considerable number of already familiar users, reducing learning process. Using Material Design significantly implies the reduction of costs and time in development and validation.
Usability testing
We’ve worked closely and organically with participant observation, collecting data on naturally occurring behaviors in their usual daily contexts. In which helped us re-define tasks, establish new objectives and evaluate apps performance. Changes were made incorporating audio interface, we’ve noticed how security and convenience were a changing point, while commuting in Sao Paulo and maneuvering your iPhone. We’ve devised an audio interface for navigation through headphones, inspired by GPS car gauges, but optimized for out user’s modes, understanding their context.
iOS app Prototype
