This is the first post in a series that follows the journey of a personal project I am developing. In this series, you will learn about the entire process I used while applying what I learned about UX by talking to professionals in the field, articles, videos and courses.

I would like to thank everyone who is guiding me in the studies and development of this project. Thank you very much!

Motivation

As a frequent commuter using public transportation in São Paulo, Brazil, I’ve often experienced frustration with long lines for buying and refilling transport tickets, as well as waiting to pass through the turnstiles. Thus, to better illustrate this common issue, I’ve included some photos from my daily commute.

Rede Ponto Certo App

To enhance the user experience, Rede Ponto Certo developed a suite of mobile applications for managing transport tickets. These apps allow users to easily top up their cards and view their balances. As a frequent user, I’ve found the app for Loyalty Cards particularly helpful.

However, it is not possible to recharge the Loyalty Card, which disappointed me, since to recharge it I have to wait in line at the counters and ATMs. Additionally, there are also some usability issues.

I do not intend to analyze each problem, but the one that caught my attention the most was the fact that when the application finishes loading the home screen, a pop-up appears right away asking the user to turn on NFC, without the possibility of closing the pop-up, tapping outside of it or using the back button (for Android devices). Not all smartphones have the NFC version currently compatible with the application. Therefore, the user will have been forced to turn on NFC without being sure that it will be accepted.

Furthermore, when tapping to Buy Credits, the same pop-up is displayed again, which becomes inconvenient, as the user will believe that it is only possible to buy credits by reading their ticket via NFC, and depending on the smartphone, the reading will not always be successful.

Proposal

Therefore, the proposal is to design an application that aims to meet the needs of users, regardless of the type of transport ticket and the NFC version on their smartphones. In addition, the application aims to save users time by avoiding queues, facilitating their commute and avoiding frustration when using the application.

Next steps

Start mobile application discovery by using design tools such as:

• It is, It is Not, It Does, It Doesn’t
• 360 Degree View
• Proto-personas, Interview Scripts, Personas
• Use Cases and User Stories
• UX Canvas