Revamping & enhancing MyTransport.SG, the unofficial mobility app of Singapore, to elevate the user experience of its users.
CLIENT/
Personal Project
DESIGNED AT/
Personal
MY ROLE/
UIUX Designer, UX Researcher
CHALLENGE/
Revamp the MyTransport.SG mobile app to improve its user experience so that it can be more effectively used by commuters in Singapore, allowing for a more pleasant public transport experience.
About
Launched in 2011, the MyTransport.SG app is a service developed by the Land Transport Authority of Singapore. It aims to be an all-in-one mobility app, providing local commuters with useful information and features to easily navigate around the island’s extensive transport facilities.
The Land Transport Authority is a statutory board under the Ministry of Transport of Government of Singapore.
And while there are already many other mobility apps on the market, MyTransport.SG is unique in that it is specific to the needs of commuters in Singapore, providing real-time local traffic alerts, live screen grabs from traffic cameras and the ability to report road incidents.
The Problem
Despite having received an overhaul in 2018, the app suffers from issues such as design inconsistencies and clunky, hard-to-navigate screens. What results is a user experience that lacks the level of ease and simplicity that is the expectation with such services.
Process
Design Research
A survey form comprised of 11 questions was created and distributed to a pool of 25 mobility app users aged 26–45 (the key demographic). Doing so allowed me to quickly gather a large pool of data to validate my hypothesis and broadly inform the direction of inquiry in subsequent research methods.
Then, to get a deeper understanding of how users think and behave, contextual inquiry and user interviews were conducted with 6 participants, aged 26–45.
I sought to answer the following questions through research:
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What transport mobility apps are users in Singapore currently using?
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What is the awareness of the MyTransport.SG app among public transport commuters in Singapore?
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What are user needs, habits and behaviours in regards to public transportation in Singapore?
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Are there any frustrations/pain points encountered by commuters?
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Are there any unmet needs?
User Personas
User personas were created to better visualise the proposed target group and aid in the research process through the formation of user scenarios and use cases.
Value Proposition
To differentiate MyTransport.SG from other mobility apps in the market, I decided that it had to be more than a mobility app, based on insights gathered from the research process.
This meant empathising with the needs and thoughts of commuters, and addressing the unique challengers of commuters in Singapore.
Beyond just providing travel information, the goal of the app should be to improve the overall transport experience.
Product principles were then created to provide a foundation for how the product would look and communicate to the user.
The Redesign
Information Architecture
During the research process, it was found that users had trouble navigating to their desired information or features due to poor content organisation.
In particular, many users lamented about how certain key features could not be easily accessed from the landing page.
Some tasks, such as checking bus arrival times after routing a journey also required excessive steps due to a lack of integration between the travel planner and bus information screens, which required users to return to the main menu in between screens to look up related information.
As such, to ensure that all key functions can be easily accessed in as few steps as possible, the information architecture of the app was re-imagined below:
Wireframes
With the IA established, I proceeded to create the Mid-fidelity prototypes with the user flow in mind. This process was vital in ensuring that every element on the page served a purpose, and that there were no superfluous elements to distract from key content.
Some key improvements made to the design of the app that were planned and iterated in the mid-fi wireframes include:
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User flow — ensuring that users could easily access key information in as few screens as possible
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User navigation — ensuring that users could identify the points of interaction in order to find the information they require
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User interface— ensuring that users could quickly read and interpret complex information through straightforward and minimalist design
Finding #01: Poor UI hinders user navigation
For utility apps, it is natural and expected that users want to be able to complete their intended tasks as quickly and effortlessly as possible.
Poor content organisation meant that users waste time navigating lengthy menus to find their desired features, as a result of the extra step and additional cognitive load required.
A crowded UI with unnecessary visual noise also distracts users from key information, made worse by the fact that many use the app while multi-tasking and with a reduced cognitive load.
"After figuring out how to get here, I wanted to know how fast the bus would come. To do that, I had to look for the bus services menu."
"The app is not user friendly and I wasted time exploring it, when I was short on time."
"Good idea to introduce platform density, but why hide it until it could hardly be found?"
"Interface is poorly done, looks nice but useless."
"This new version is not user friendly. I still use the old version which provides the information I need easily."
"Took more than a year to get the screen right of iPhone Max screen. The function I use most, traffic updates, is no longer a single press."
However, the issue now then, is that there are many different user opinions on what key features needed to be immediately accessible, based on the unique needs of each commuter (ie. Riders vs. Cyclists vs. Drivers).
Solution: Bring back quick buttons, allow user customisation
This will allow users to:
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Immediately access all key functions of the app via quick buttons without having to open and scroll through a length hamburger menu
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Personalise their dashboard, rearranging the order of quick buttons so that the features that matter to them appear at the top
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Favourite buses, stops and journeys, for quick and easy access from the bottom navigation
Solution: Clear information and minimalist design
This will help to:
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Remove unnecessary visual noise to declutter the UI
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Guide the user’s eye and improve ease of information processing by user through use of appropriate iconography
The lack of personalisation options and quick access buttons mean that users have to take more steps than necessary to complete tasks that they perform frequently. Older versions of the app included quick buttons on the landing page, but this was removed in a later version, to the chagrin of many.
Finding #02: Convenience is king
Users appreciate convenience. One of the most illuminating findings from the user survey was that 56% of users had 2 or more mobility apps that they used regularly on their phones.
Further investigation in the user interviews showed that users who had more than 2 mobility apps on their phone used each app to complete different tasks, as they were unable to find all the information they needed with one app.
“I will use Google Maps to locate my destination, Google search to find what bus I need to take, but then switch to SG Bus to find my bus arrival time”
— Female, late 20s
When probed further, they expressed that if it was possible to complete all required tasks related to their journey on one app, they would do so gladly as it would be more convenient.
“I should be able to find all my transport info in one place”
— Female, late 20s
Most requested was the ability to top-up EZ-Link cards directly in the app, as it was an integral part of the public transport commute. Hence, for the purpose of this project, I am using EZ-Link Top-Up as an example of a related task to be integrated to the app.
EZ-Link cards are rechargeable fare cards used primarily for public transportation in Singapore. Currently, users can only top-up their EZ-Link cards in a separate app, ‘TransitLink SimplyGo’. Users will be directed to the app’s download page in the app store from the MyTransport.SG app.
Solution: Integrate related tasks
This will allow users to:
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Top-up EZ-Link cards directly from the MyTransport.SG app, removing the needs to switch apps
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Easy and quick access from the user dashboard
Finding #03: Untapped opportunities
In the contextual enquiry, users were observed to face several points of frustration when using public transportation.
As such, I had to ask myself, ‘Are there was any additional quality-of-life features that could be introduced to help improve the overall commuting experience?’
“Eh? Where is the bus arrival time? Was I supposed to get on that bus?”
— Female, late 20s, after missing the bus suggested in the journey planner
Some of the pain points observed include:
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Missing a bus stop/train stop because of uncertainty/distraction
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Missing a bus/train because of uncertainty/distraction
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Unclear navigation instructions and lack of feedback in the journey planner, resulting in uncertainty and frustration
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The need to always switch apps to perform functions related to their journey (ie. Sharing journey information with friends)
Solution: Track journey and share journey information
This will allow users to:
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Track the progress of their journey, receive directions and feedback based on their live location with the Journey Tracker
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Instantly share journey information with friends or family via text message or Whatsapp based on their current location data
Solution: Set alarms/notifications
This will allow users to:
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Track the progress of their journey, receive directions and feedback based on their live location with the Journey Tracker
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Instantly share journey information with friends or family via text message or Whatsapp based on their current location data
Brand refresh
In addition, as part of this redesign, I would like to propose a rebranding effort of the MyTransport.SG app in order to increase brand awareness and memorability.
Included in this brand refresh is a revamped style guide for the mobile app to ensure better consistency, as well as a look and feel that better reflects the proposed position and messaging of the mobile app
A bolder, more minimalistic and recognisable logo was also developed to ensure more flexibility and adaptability across different platforms and screen sizes.
Final thoughts
What I’ve learnt
Face-to-face Conversations: Conducted during the Covid-19 lockdown in Singapore, a good chunk of research had to be done over Zoom, rather than in-person. Where in-person research could be conducted, I found that the data gathered was more spontaneous and in-depth — highlighting its importance.
Form Meets Function: In utility apps, it is vital to ensure that efficiency and utility is a priority in the final product. Hence, aesthetic design has to be used to complement usability, and enhance functionality.
Moving ahead
Moving forward, further improvements to the app could be made to the live map through the development of a graphical system for the live map, including an increased vocabulary of icons and more in-depth guidelines on how the live map should look and function.
I also believe that more user tests can be conducted on the app prototype to gather more user insight on the proposed screens for improvements in future iterations.
