The BART
DEFINING THE PROBLEM
While BART is a cheap way to travel around the Bay Area, many people are frustrated with their experience. Constantly having to battle the confusing signs, inconvenient paying turnstiles, dirty stations, and worrying about their personal safety, many riders have exclaimed “I hate BART!”. I hoped to address all these concerns when asking “How might we improve the BART experience?”. Below, you will find my process of reaching the solution: a BART app that aids users with finding schedules, uploading money to their Clipper Card, and finding parking.
USER RESEARCH
There were five main goals when conducting the research: Purpose, Reliability, Safety, Benefits, and Complaints
I conducted this research through a 10 minute individual interview process with multiple candidates using the questions below.
10 KEY INSIGHTS
1) Most people take BART alone.
2) People prefer BART over driving to avoid traffic.
3) Most users use some type of media while using BART (phone, e-book, laptop).
4) Users agree that BART goes through many parts of the Bay, but still limited. It would be better if extended to the South Bay area.
5) News about stabbings on BART raised concerns for public safety on BART.
6) Most users believe BART is unsanitary in terms of ambience.
7) Users believe BART is a cheap means of transportation.
8) Trains can get very crowded during the weekday evenings.
9) A recurring pain point is not knowing the difference between northbound and southbound trains.
10)Those who use Clipper Cards believe transferring money can be difficult at times.
DIVERGENT THINKING
I found many general themes throughout the user interviews. For example, Bay Area natives are less confused about riding BART as compared to those from SoCal and out of state students. However, most people express the same concerns about safety and hygiene. I categorized these qualities and made three user personas.
The Professional
Personal Info
- 51 years old
- Professional banker
- Barts to work
- From Bay Area
Insights
- Prefers BART over driving because of traffic
- Can do busy work/small tasks on BART (checking emails, planning meetings, etc.)
The Student from the Bay
Personal Info
- 18 years old
- UC Berkeley student
- Barts home on holidays
- From Bay Area
Insights
- Uses Clipper Card and thinks transferring money onto card is inefficient
- Thinks BART can extend to South Bay
The Visiting Student
Personal Info
- 20 years old
- UC Berkeley student
- Barts for fun to SF
- Not from Bay Area
CONVERGENT THINKING
From the insights I collected, I then attempted to make tangible solutions to address these problems. While some ideas seemed very promising at solving specific problems, such as safety on the platforms, they did less to improve the entire BART experience.
MOCK-UPS
Out of my potential solutions, I decided to make a BART app that lets people reload Clipper Card funds, determine train schedules, and reserve parking. I chose this solution because it addresses many of the concerns that riders expressed in our User Interviews. It will be an inefficient and safe way to load funds and it will help people be on time by notifying them when their train is leaving. Since most of the users we talked to are college students with smartphones, I believe they would benefit with an app. Additionally, one app can benefit all BART riders, whereas adjustments to each station can be a long process and expensive.
Low-Fidelity Prototype
Mid-Fidelity Prototype
USABILITY TESTING
To determine the experience of a potential user’s experience, I conducted usability testing using my friends and housemates. My goal was to determine if my app correctly addressed the needs of users and was an intuitive and welcoming design. Many people were very interested in having a BART app, especially the function to reload their Clipper Card. I decided to take out the my account option in the top right corner because it doesn’t serve much functionality. I also left out a few crucial usability features, such as a way to favorite trips, confirm payments, and move backwards between screens.
High-Fidelity Prototype
