WORK

PLAY

ABOUT

RESUMÉ

Project Overview

Many students at the University of Florida live off-campus and rely on Gainesville’s Regional Transport System’s (RTS) busses to commute to campus and get around the city. Unfortunately, many struggle to understand and navigate the RTS bus system. Determining a bus route that aligns with students’ busy schedules can be stressful and overwhelming, especially for first time users. The current RTS bus app is confusing and unintuitive for users to navigate. Therefore, less people use the bus system for commuting in Gainesville.

ROLE

UX/UI Design

User Research

Graphic Design

PERIOD

March - May 2023

TOOLS

Figma
Adobe Photoshop

TEAM

Howard Le

Natalie Sesodia

Jackie Truong

Zhuoming Han

RESEARCH

Background

Conducting interviews with 4 UF students, we pinpointed problems users face with the current RTS Bus app:

  • Difficulty in navigating the app to find route information
  • Unreliability of real-time bus location
  • Visual clutter and lack of appeal

Competitor Analysis

Google Maps

Strengths

  • second option for students daily commute
  • less likely for the mobile application to crash

Weaknesses

  • not specific to RTS bus system
  • may have route inaccuracies

Lyft

Strengths

  • convenient for emergency situation
  • smaller chance for the mobile application to crash

Weaknesses

  • very costly for students and residents to afford on a daily basis

Uber

Strengths

  • convenient for emergency situation
  • smaller chance for the mobile application to crash

Weaknesses

  • very costly for students and residents to afford on a daily basis

Stakeholder Map

After drawing the stakeholder map, we narrowed our target audience down to University of Florida students and local Gainesville residents who rely on public transportation for their daily commute.

DEFINE

User Persona

Kevin

Age: 20 years old

Occupation: Full Time Student at UF

Location: Gainesville, FL

Goals:

  • Conveniently go grocery shopping
  • Easily go around town with friends

Frustrations:

  • RTS app not user friendly for foreigners
  • Does not know how to navigate town

Harold

Age: 62 years old

Occupation: Retail Store Employee

Location: Gainesville, FL

Goals:

  • Get to work on time by bus
  • Visit friends/families around town easily

Frustrations:

  • Unsure how to navigate RTS bus app
  • Construction, traffic, delays

Jane

Age: 19 years old

Occupation: Full Time Student at UF

Location: Gainesville, FL

Goals:

  • Get to campus efficiently
  • Commute safely

Frustrations:

  • Off-campus student parking is too far from classes
  • Parking decals are expensive

User Scenario

After drawing the stakeholder map, we narrowed our target audience down to University of Florida students and local Gainesville residents who rely on public transportation for their daily commute.

Kevin’s biggest struggle is transportation as he doesn’t own a car or live within walking distance to anywhere. Kevin relies on carpooling, ride-sharing apps and public transportation for everyday commuting.

The fall semester is starting soon, and Kevin needs a reliable mode of transportation to get to his classes on time. Kevin has seen the RTS buses on campus and around Gainesville, but is unsure of which routes would work for him.

Kevin finds the RTS Bus app, which is an app sole dedicated to the Gainesville RTS bus system. As a non-native speaker, Kevin is drawn to the app because of its intuitive design. He likes that notifications are sent to update bus’s real-time location.

It’s mid-way through the semester and Kevin finds himself not only using the RTS bus app for his daily commute to campus, but also for getting groceries and visiting his friends around town.

IDEATE

Product Goals

01. Redesign RTS app using standard minimalist mobile iOS design conventions.

02. Improve onboarding experience for new bus-riders/app users

03. Improve clarity and presentation of route information

Design Requirements

  • Real- time map incorporating user location with route progress updates
  • Ability to ‘Favorite’ multiple routes
  • Ability to set “Home” Location
  • Search via destination
  • Names & numbers for stop locations
  • External consistency with minimalist design standards

Application Map

DESIGN

Branding & Style Guidelines

Wireframes

Preliminary Testing

Our team conducted initial user testing with the first version of our prototype to gather more in-depth feedback from potential users. Some feedback we received is as follows:

 

Participant A

  • User reported app to be overall intuitive to navigate
  • No major pain points reported in the app navigating
  • Suggested to add more colors and icons for distinction
  • Suggested to get rid of the individual profile section because they did not see a purpose or use to it other than the part of changing one’s home location or favorites

 

Participant B

  • Overall found the wireframes clear and easy to navigate
  • Suggested to have pop-up notifications when watching a route in real-time

High-Fidelity Mockup

High-Fidelity Prototype

TEST

User Testing

Participant A

  • Asked about interface "showing warning regarding construction/road closure/event operation/sport games"
  • Interface for login/signup needed
  • Adhere color to the gator color scheme more

 

Participant B

  • Include option of “inbound” or “outbound” for the bus route, would be easier for user
  • Overall interface is logical, just need to polish on small details

 

Participant C

  • “App functions really well and I can navigate it very intuitively. Wish it was more visually appealing with colors.”
  • Wants functional filtering by favorites and home feature
  • Perhaps include a moveable map.
  • Confused on “Home filter” button

 

Participant D

  • Should have a stops shown real time map and show which bus routes go to that bus stop
  • Really likes the newer design but wishes it was less grey
  • Confused on purpose of Profile section
  • Would like to see a “Recent/Previous Routes” to avoid re-searching for routes.
  • Would prefer to use this version over the current RTS app

Final Thoughts

The revised RTS bus app was positively received by colleagues, faculty, and interviewees. Despite this, there are still areas for enhancement in information delivery and overall design to better represent the UF and Gainesville community. We aimed to create an intuitive and user-friendly app for all users. With more time, we believe we can successfully achieve this goal by continuing the project for another semester.

 

The RTS bus app has the potential to be a highly convenient and reliable transportation option for Gainesville residents. By enhancing the app, RTS could potentially boost its ridership among all Gainesville residents.

Gator User Design

Ultimate Statsheet

Excuse me, you dropped this...

👑

© 2025 Howard Le

Connect with me!

Star

WORK

PLAY

ABOUT

RESUMÉ

Project Overview

Many students at the University of Florida live off-campus and rely on Gainesville’s Regional Transport System’s (RTS) busses to commute to campus and get around the city. Unfortunately, many struggle to understand and navigate the RTS bus system. Determining a bus route that aligns with students’ busy schedules can be stressful and overwhelming, especially for first time users. The current RTS bus app is confusing and unintuitive for users to navigate. Therefore, less people use the bus system for commuting in Gainesville.

ROLE

UX/UI Design

User Research

Graphic Design

PERIOD

March - May 2023

TOOLS

Figma
Adobe Photoshop

TEAM

Howard Le

Natalie Sesodia

Jackie Truong

Zhuoming Han

RESEARCH

Background

Conducting interviews with 4 UF students, we pinpointed problems users face with the current RTS Bus app:

  • Difficulty in navigating the app to find route information
  • Unreliability of real-time bus location
  • Visual clutter and lack of appeal

Competitor Analysis

Google Maps

Strengths

  • second option for students daily commute
  • less likely for the mobile application to crash

Weaknesses

  • not specific to RTS bus system
  • may have route inaccuracies

Lyft

Strengths

  • convenient for emergency situation
  • smaller chance for the mobile application to crash

Weaknesses

  • very costly for students and residents to afford on a daily basis

Uber

Strengths

  • convenient for emergency situation
  • smaller chance for the mobile application to crash

Weaknesses

  • very costly for students and residents to afford on a daily basis

Stakeholder Map

After drawing the stakeholder map, we narrowed our target audience down to University of Florida students and local Gainesville residents who rely on public transportation for their daily commute.

DEFINE

User Persona

Kevin

Age: 20 years old

Occupation: Full Time Student at UF

Location: Gainesville, FL

Goals:

  • Conveniently go grocery shopping
  • Easily go around town with friends

Frustrations:

  • RTS app not user friendly for foreigners
  • Does not know how to navigate town

Harold

Age: 62 years old

Occupation: Retail Store Employee

Location: Gainesville, FL

Goals:

  • Get to work on time by bus
  • Visit friends/families around town easily

Frustrations:

  • Unsure how to navigate RTS bus app
  • Construction, traffic, delays

Jane

Age: 19 years old

Occupation: Full Time Student at UF

Location: Gainesville, FL

Goals:

  • Get to campus efficiently
  • Commute safely

Frustrations:

  • Off-campus student parking is too far from classes
  • Parking decals are expensive

User Scenario

After drawing the stakeholder map, we narrowed our target audience down to University of Florida students and local Gainesville residents who rely on public transportation for their daily commute.

Kevin’s biggest struggle is transportation as he doesn’t own a car or live within walking distance to anywhere. Kevin relies on carpooling, ride-sharing apps and public transportation for everyday commuting.

The fall semester is starting soon, and Kevin needs a reliable mode of transportation to get to his classes on time. Kevin has seen the RTS buses on campus and around Gainesville, but is unsure of which routes would work for him.

Kevin finds the RTS Bus app, which is an app sole dedicated to the Gainesville RTS bus system. As a non-native speaker, Kevin is drawn to the app because of its intuitive design. He likes that notifications are sent to update bus’s real-time location.

It’s mid-way through the semester and Kevin finds himself not only using the RTS bus app for his daily commute to campus, but also for getting groceries and visiting his friends around town.

IDEATE

Product Goals

01. Redesign RTS app using standard minimalist mobile iOS design conventions.

02. Improve onboarding experience for new bus-riders/app users

03. Improve clarity and presentation of route information

Design Requirements

  • Real- time map incorporating user location with route progress updates
  • Ability to ‘Favorite’ multiple routes
  • Ability to set “Home” Location
  • Search via destination
  • Names & numbers for stop locations
  • External consistency with minimalist design standards

Application Map

DESIGN

Branding & Style Guidelines

Wireframes

Preliminary Testing

Our team conducted initial user testing with the first version of our prototype to gather more in-depth feedback from potential users. Some feedback we received is as follows:

 

Participant A

  • User reported app to be overall intuitive to navigate
  • No major pain points reported in the app navigating
  • Suggested to add more colors and icons for distinction
  • Suggested to get rid of the individual profile section because they did not see a purpose or use to it other than the part of changing one’s home location or favorites

 

Participant B

  • Overall found the wireframes clear and easy to navigate
  • Suggested to have pop-up notifications when watching a route in real-time

High-Fidelity Mockup

High-Fidelity Prototype

TEST

User Testing

Participant A

  • Asked about interface "showing warning regarding construction/road closure/event operation/sport games"
  • Interface for login/signup needed
  • Adhere color to the gator color scheme more

 

Participant B

  • Include option of “inbound” or “outbound” for the bus route, would be easier for user
  • Overall interface is logical, just need to polish on small details

 

Participant C

  • “App functions really well and I can navigate it very intuitively. Wish it was more visually appealing with colors.”
  • Wants functional filtering by favorites and home feature
  • Perhaps include a moveable map.
  • Confused on “Home filter” button

 

Participant D

  • Should have a stops shown real time map and show which bus routes go to that bus stop
  • Really likes the newer design but wishes it was less grey
  • Confused on purpose of Profile section
  • Would like to see a “Recent/Previous Routes” to avoid re-searching for routes.
  • Would prefer to use this version over the current RTS app

Final Thoughts

The revised RTS bus app was positively received by colleagues, faculty, and interviewees. Despite this, there are still areas for enhancement in information delivery and overall design to better represent the UF and Gainesville community. We aimed to create an intuitive and user-friendly app for all users. With more time, we believe we can successfully achieve this goal by continuing the project for another semester.

 

The RTS bus app has the potential to be a highly convenient and reliable transportation option for Gainesville residents. By enhancing the app, RTS could potentially boost its ridership among all Gainesville residents.

Gator User Design

Ultimate Statsheet

Excuse me, you dropped this...

👑

© 2025 Howard Le

Connect with me!

WORK

PLAY

ABOUT

RESUMÉ

Project Overview

Many students at the University of Florida live off-campus and rely on Gainesville’s Regional Transport System’s (RTS) busses to commute to campus and get around the city. Unfortunately, many struggle to understand and navigate the RTS bus system. Determining a bus route that aligns with students’ busy schedules can be stressful and overwhelming, especially for first time users. The current RTS bus app is confusing and unintuitive for users to navigate. Therefore, less people use the bus system for commuting in Gainesville.

ROLE

UX/UI Design

User Research

Graphic Design

PERIOD

March - May 2023

TOOLS

Figma
Adobe Photoshop

TEAM

Howard Le

Natalie Sesodia

Jackie Truong

Zhuoming Han

RESEARCH

Background

Conducting interviews with 4 UF students, we pinpointed problems users face with the current RTS Bus app:

  • Difficulty in navigating the app to find route information
  • Unreliability of real-time bus location
  • Visual clutter and lack of appeal

Competitor Analysis

Google Maps

Strengths

  • second option for students daily commute
  • less likely for the mobile application to crash

Weaknesses

  • not specific to RTS bus system
  • may have route inaccuracies

Lyft

Strengths

  • convenient for emergency situation
  • smaller chance for the mobile application to crash

Weaknesses

  • very costly for students and residents to afford on a daily basis

Uber

Strengths

  • convenient for emergency situation
  • smaller chance for the mobile application to crash

Weaknesses

  • very costly for students and residents to afford on a daily basis

Stakeholder Map

After drawing the stakeholder map, we narrowed our target audience down to University of Florida students and local Gainesville residents who rely on public transportation for their daily commute.

DEFINE

User Persona

Kevin

Age: 20 years old

Occupation: Full Time Student at UF

Location: Gainesville, FL

Goals:

  • Conveniently go grocery shopping
  • Easily go around town with friends

Frustrations:

  • RTS app not user friendly for foreigners
  • Does not know how to navigate town

Harold

Age: 62 years old

Occupation: Retail Store Employee

Location: Gainesville, FL

Goals:

  • Get to work on time by bus
  • Visit friends/families around town easily

Frustrations:

  • Unsure how to navigate RTS bus app
  • Construction, traffic, delays

Jane

Age: 19 years old

Occupation: Full Time Student at UF

Location: Gainesville, FL

Goals:

  • Get to campus efficiently
  • Commute safely

Frustrations:

  • Off-campus student parking is too far from classes
  • Parking decals are expensive

User Scenario

After drawing the stakeholder map, we narrowed our target audience down to University of Florida students and local Gainesville residents who rely on public transportation for their daily commute.

Kevin’s biggest struggle is transportation as he doesn’t own a car or live within walking distance to anywhere. Kevin relies on carpooling, ride-sharing apps and public transportation for everyday commuting.

The fall semester is starting soon, and Kevin needs a reliable mode of transportation to get to his classes on time. Kevin has seen the RTS buses on campus and around Gainesville, but is unsure of which routes would work for him.

Kevin finds the RTS Bus app, which is an app sole dedicated to the Gainesville RTS bus system. As a non-native speaker, Kevin is drawn to the app because of its intuitive design. He likes that notifications are sent to update bus’s real-time location.

It’s mid-way through the semester and Kevin finds himself not only using the RTS bus app for his daily commute to campus, but also for getting groceries and visiting his friends around town.

IDEATE

Product Goals

01. Redesign RTS app using standard minimalist mobile iOS design conventions.

02. Improve onboarding experience for new bus-riders/app users

03. Improve clarity and presentation of route information

Design Requirements

  • Real- time map incorporating user location with route progress updates
  • Ability to ‘Favorite’ multiple routes
  • Ability to set “Home” Location
  • Search via destination
  • Names & numbers for stop locations
  • External consistency with minimalist design standards

Application Map

DESIGN

Branding & Style Guidelines

Wireframes

Preliminary Testing

Our team conducted initial user testing with the first version of our prototype to gather more in-depth feedback from potential users. Some feedback we received is as follows:

 

Participant A

  • User reported app to be overall intuitive to navigate
  • No major pain points reported in the app navigating
  • Suggested to add more colors and icons for distinction
  • Suggested to get rid of the individual profile section because they did not see a purpose or use to it other than the part of changing one’s home location or favorites

 

Participant B

  • Overall found the wireframes clear and easy to navigate
  • Suggested to have pop-up notifications when watching a route in real-time

High-Fidelity Mockup

High-Fidelity Prototype

TEST

User Testing

Participant A

  • Asked about interface "showing warning regarding construction/road closure/event operation/sport games"
  • Interface for login/signup needed
  • Adhere color to the gator color scheme more

 

Participant B

  • Include option of “inbound” or “outbound” for the bus route, would be easier for user
  • Overall interface is logical, just need to polish on small details

 

Participant C

  • “App functions really well and I can navigate it very intuitively. Wish it was more visually appealing with colors.”
  • Wants functional filtering by favorites and home feature
  • Perhaps include a moveable map.
  • Confused on “Home filter” button

 

Participant D

  • Should have a stops shown real time map and show which bus routes go to that bus stop
  • Really likes the newer design but wishes it was less grey
  • Confused on purpose of Profile section
  • Would like to see a “Recent/Previous Routes” to avoid re-searching for routes.
  • Would prefer to use this version over the current RTS app

Final Thoughts

The revised RTS bus app was positively received by colleagues, faculty, and interviewees. Despite this, there are still areas for enhancement in information delivery and overall design to better represent the UF and Gainesville community. We aimed to create an intuitive and user-friendly app for all users. With more time, we believe we can successfully achieve this goal by continuing the project for another semester.

 

The RTS bus app has the potential to be a highly convenient and reliable transportation option for Gainesville residents. By enhancing the app, RTS could potentially boost its ridership among all Gainesville residents.

Gator User Design

Ultimate Statsheet

Excuse me, you dropped this...

👑

© 2025 Howard Le

Connect with me!

WORK

PLAY

ABOUT

RESUMÉ

Project Overview

Many students at the University of Florida live off-campus and rely on Gainesville’s Regional Transport System’s (RTS) busses to commute to campus and get around the city. Unfortunately, many struggle to understand and navigate the RTS bus system. Determining a bus route that aligns with students’ busy schedules can be stressful and overwhelming, especially for first time users. The current RTS bus app is confusing and unintuitive for users to navigate. Therefore, less people use the bus system for commuting in Gainesville.

ROLE

UX/UI Design

User Research

Graphic Design

PERIOD

March - May 2023

TOOLS

Figma
Adobe Photoshop

TEAM

Howard Le

Natalie Sesodia

Jackie Truong

Zhuoming Han

RESEARCH

Background

Conducting interviews with 4 UF students, we pinpointed problems users face with the current RTS Bus app:

  • Difficulty in navigating the app to find route information
  • Unreliability of real-time bus location
  • Visual clutter and lack of appeal

Competitor Analysis

Google Maps

Strengths

  • second option for students daily commute
  • less likely for the mobile application to crash

Weaknesses

  • not specific to RTS bus system
  • may have route inaccuracies

Lyft

Strengths

  • convenient for emergency situation
  • smaller chance for the mobile application to crash

Weaknesses

  • very costly for students and residents to afford on a daily basis

Uber

Strengths

  • convenient for emergency situation
  • smaller chance for the mobile application to crash

Weaknesses

  • very costly for students and residents to afford on a daily basis

Stakeholder Map

After drawing the stakeholder map, we narrowed our target audience down to University of Florida students and local Gainesville residents who rely on public transportation for their daily commute.

DEFINE

User Persona

Kevin

Age: 20 years old

Occupation: Full Time Student at UF

Location: Gainesville, FL

Goals:

  • Conveniently go grocery shopping
  • Easily go around town with friends

Frustrations:

  • RTS app not user friendly for foreigners
  • Does not know how to navigate town

Harold

Age: 62 years old

Occupation: Retail Store Employee

Location: Gainesville, FL

Goals:

  • Get to work on time by bus
  • Visit friends/families around town easily

Frustrations:

  • Unsure how to navigate RTS bus app
  • Construction, traffic, delays

Jane

Age: 19 years old

Occupation: Full Time Student at UF

Location: Gainesville, FL

Goals:

  • Get to campus efficiently
  • Commute safely

Frustrations:

  • Off-campus student parking is too far from classes
  • Parking decals are expensive

User Scenario

After drawing the stakeholder map, we narrowed our target audience down to University of Florida students and local Gainesville residents who rely on public transportation for their daily commute.

Kevin’s biggest struggle is transportation as he doesn’t own a car or live within walking distance to anywhere. Kevin relies on carpooling, ride-sharing apps and public transportation for everyday commuting.

The fall semester is starting soon, and Kevin needs a reliable mode of transportation to get to his classes on time. Kevin has seen the RTS buses on campus and around Gainesville, but is unsure of which routes would work for him.

Kevin finds the RTS Bus app, which is an app sole dedicated to the Gainesville RTS bus system. As a non-native speaker, Kevin is drawn to the app because of its intuitive design. He likes that notifications are sent to update bus’s real-time location.

It’s mid-way through the semester and Kevin finds himself not only using the RTS bus app for his daily commute to campus, but also for getting groceries and visiting his friends around town.

IDEATE

Product Goals

01. Redesign RTS app using standard minimalist mobile iOS design conventions.

02. Improve onboarding experience for new bus-riders/app users

03. Improve clarity and presentation of route information

Design Requirements

  • Real- time map incorporating user location with route progress updates
  • Ability to ‘Favorite’ multiple routes
  • Ability to set “Home” Location
  • Search via destination
  • Names & numbers for stop locations
  • External consistency with minimalist design standards

Application Map

DESIGN

Branding & Style Guidelines

Wireframes

Preliminary Testing

Our team conducted initial user testing with the first version of our prototype to gather more in-depth feedback from potential users. Some feedback we received is as follows:

 

Participant A

  • User reported app to be overall intuitive to navigate
  • No major pain points reported in the app navigating
  • Suggested to add more colors and icons for distinction
  • Suggested to get rid of the individual profile section because they did not see a purpose or use to it other than the part of changing one’s home location or favorites

 

Participant B

  • Overall found the wireframes clear and easy to navigate
  • Suggested to have pop-up notifications when watching a route in real-time

High-Fidelity Mockup

High-Fidelity Prototype

TEST

User Testing

Participant A

  • Asked about interface "showing warning regarding construction/road closure/event operation/sport games"
  • Interface for login/signup needed
  • Adhere color to the gator color scheme more

 

Participant B

  • Include option of “inbound” or “outbound” for the bus route, would be easier for user
  • Overall interface is logical, just need to polish on small details

 

Participant C

  • “App functions really well and I can navigate it very intuitively. Wish it was more visually appealing with colors.”
  • Wants functional filtering by favorites and home feature
  • Perhaps include a moveable map.
  • Confused on “Home filter” button

 

Participant D

  • Should have a stops shown real time map and show which bus routes go to that bus stop
  • Really likes the newer design but wishes it was less grey
  • Confused on purpose of Profile section
  • Would like to see a “Recent/Previous Routes” to avoid re-searching for routes.
  • Would prefer to use this version over the current RTS app

Final Thoughts

The revised RTS bus app was positively received by colleagues, faculty, and interviewees. Despite this, there are still areas for enhancement in information delivery and overall design to better represent the UF and Gainesville community. We aimed to create an intuitive and user-friendly app for all users. With more time, we believe we can successfully achieve this goal by continuing the project for another semester.

 

The RTS bus app has the potential to be a highly convenient and reliable transportation option for Gainesville residents. By enhancing the app, RTS could potentially boost its ridership among all Gainesville residents.

Gator User Design

Ultimate Statsheet

Excuse me, you dropped this...

👑

© 2025 Howard Le

Connect with me!

WORK

PLAY

ABOUT

RESUMÉ

Project Overview

Many students at the University of Florida live off-campus and rely on Gainesville’s Regional Transport System’s (RTS) busses to commute to campus and get around the city. Unfortunately, many struggle to understand and navigate the RTS bus system. Determining a bus route that aligns with students’ busy schedules can be stressful and overwhelming, especially for first time users. The current RTS bus app is confusing and unintuitive for users to navigate. Therefore, less people use the bus system for commuting in Gainesville.

ROLE

UX/UI Design

User Research

Graphic Design

PERIOD

March - May 2023

TOOLS

Figma
Adobe Photoshop

TEAM

Howard Le

Natalie Sesodia

Jackie Truong

Zhuoming Han

RESEARCH

Background

Conducting interviews with 4 UF students, we pinpointed problems users face with the current RTS Bus app:

  • Difficulty in navigating the app to find route information
  • Unreliability of real-time bus location
  • Visual clutter and lack of appeal

Competitor Analysis

Google Maps

Strengths

  • second option for students daily commute
  • less likely for the mobile application to crash

Weaknesses

  • not specific to RTS bus system
  • may have route inaccuracies

Lyft

Strengths

  • convenient for emergency situation
  • smaller chance for the mobile application to crash

Weaknesses

  • very costly for students and residents to afford on a daily basis

Uber

Strengths

  • convenient for emergency situation
  • smaller chance for the mobile application to crash

Weaknesses

  • very costly for students and residents to afford on a daily basis

Stakeholder Map

After drawing the stakeholder map, we narrowed our target audience down to University of Florida students and local Gainesville residents who rely on public transportation for their daily commute.

DEFINE

User Persona

Kevin

Age: 20 years old

Occupation: Full Time Student at UF

Location: Gainesville, FL

Goals:

  • Conveniently go grocery shopping
  • Easily go around town with friends

Frustrations:

  • RTS app not user friendly for foreigners
  • Does not know how to navigate town

Harold

Age: 62 years old

Occupation: Retail Store Employee

Location: Gainesville, FL

Goals:

  • Get to work on time by bus
  • Visit friends/families around town easily

Frustrations:

  • Unsure how to navigate RTS bus app
  • Construction, traffic, delays

Jane

Age: 19 years old

Occupation: Full Time Student at UF

Location: Gainesville, FL

Goals:

  • Get to campus efficiently
  • Commute safely

Frustrations:

  • Off-campus student parking is too far from classes
  • Parking decals are expensive

User Scenario

After drawing the stakeholder map, we narrowed our target audience down to University of Florida students and local Gainesville residents who rely on public transportation for their daily commute.

Kevin’s biggest struggle is transportation as he doesn’t own a car or live within walking distance to anywhere. Kevin relies on carpooling, ride-sharing apps and public transportation for everyday commuting.

The fall semester is starting soon, and Kevin needs a reliable mode of transportation to get to his classes on time. Kevin has seen the RTS buses on campus and around Gainesville, but is unsure of which routes would work for him.

Kevin finds the RTS Bus app, which is an app sole dedicated to the Gainesville RTS bus system. As a non-native speaker, Kevin is drawn to the app because of its intuitive design. He likes that notifications are sent to update bus’s real-time location.

It’s mid-way through the semester and Kevin finds himself not only using the RTS bus app for his daily commute to campus, but also for getting groceries and visiting his friends around town.

IDEATE

Product Goals

01. Redesign RTS app using standard minimalist mobile iOS design conventions.

02. Improve onboarding experience for new bus-riders/app users

03. Improve clarity and presentation of route information

Design Requirements

  • Real- time map incorporating user location with route progress updates
  • Ability to ‘Favorite’ multiple routes
  • Ability to set “Home” Location
  • Search via destination
  • Names & numbers for stop locations
  • External consistency with minimalist design standards

Application Map

DESIGN

Branding & Style Guidelines

Wireframes

Preliminary Testing

Our team conducted initial user testing with the first version of our prototype to gather more in-depth feedback from potential users. Some feedback we received is as follows:

 

Participant A

  • User reported app to be overall intuitive to navigate
  • No major pain points reported in the app navigating
  • Suggested to add more colors and icons for distinction
  • Suggested to get rid of the individual profile section because they did not see a purpose or use to it other than the part of changing one’s home location or favorites

 

Participant B

  • Overall found the wireframes clear and easy to navigate
  • Suggested to have pop-up notifications when watching a route in real-time

High-Fidelity Mockup

High-Fidelity Prototype

TEST

User Testing

Participant A

  • Asked about interface "showing warning regarding construction/road closure/event operation/sport games"
  • Interface for login/signup needed
  • Adhere color to the gator color scheme more

 

Participant B

  • Include option of “inbound” or “outbound” for the bus route, would be easier for user
  • Overall interface is logical, just need to polish on small details

 

Participant C

  • “App functions really well and I can navigate it very intuitively. Wish it was more visually appealing with colors.”
  • Wants functional filtering by favorites and home feature
  • Perhaps include a moveable map.
  • Confused on “Home filter” button

 

Participant D

  • Should have a stops shown real time map and show which bus routes go to that bus stop
  • Really likes the newer design but wishes it was less grey
  • Confused on purpose of Profile section
  • Would like to see a “Recent/Previous Routes” to avoid re-searching for routes.
  • Would prefer to use this version over the current RTS app

Final Thoughts

The revised RTS bus app was positively received by colleagues, faculty, and interviewees. Despite this, there are still areas for enhancement in information delivery and overall design to better represent the UF and Gainesville community. We aimed to create an intuitive and user-friendly app for all users. With more time, we believe we can successfully achieve this goal by continuing the project for another semester.

 

The RTS bus app has the potential to be a highly convenient and reliable transportation option for Gainesville residents. By enhancing the app, RTS could potentially boost its ridership among all Gainesville residents.

Gator User Design

Ultimate Statsheet

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