Chicago transit authority
PC: Jay Gullion
ASSIGNMENT
Research, propose, and prototype system-wide interventions to meet the future needs of citizens in the 2020s and 2030s.
Determine existing drivers barriers to CTA and Metra usage today and identify areas for end-to-end improvement across digital and physical experiences.
Develop a future innovation pipeline.
RoleS + Responsibilities
Design Researcher + Strategist
Primary + secondary research
Analysis + synthesis
Field research: heuristic evaluations, think-alouds, card sort, intercepts, contextual interviews, quantitative survey
TEAM
Kait Forsythe, Pinakee Naik, Esther Lee, Jason Romano
Supervisor
Mark Mitchelli, VP Experience Innovation + Strategy
Analysis
Heuristic evaluation
Utilized Jakob Nielsen’s ten heuristics to identify potential problems in the user interface design of CTA and Metra digital point-of-purchase application: Ventra.
Think alouds
Conducted think alouds to audit existing digital services and determine fault points in the user experience of the Ventra application.
Survey
Designed and administered a quantitative survey to test a hypothesis regarding the potential value of integrating Google Maps within the Ventra application.
Card Sorts
Conducted cart sorts to determine transit preferences among our research subjects.
Intercepts + Interviews
Intercepts helped gauge sentiment about the CTA and Metra in comparison to rival modes of transit.
Interviews provided rich data regarding the attitudes, biases, feelings, sentiments and motivations that influence decision-making around public transportation.
Contextual Inquiry
Through contextual inquiry, we observed users engaging with the CTA service. In our research, we discovered:
1. people travel with a lot of stuff
2. people seek privacy within public spaces
Field Notes
Insight #1
The CTA and Metra learning curve is a barrier to usage.
“Google Maps says head toward UIC-Halsted. Does that mean Forest Park or O’Hare?”
Insight #2
Assessments of convenience are highly contextual.
“In the evening, I prefer to take Uber. The CTA can take a long time and, especially at night, buses are not so frequent. Sometimes I have to wait 10 to 15 minutes at the train stop, which I don’t enjoy.”
Insight #3
Safety is a top-of-mind concern.
“My wife avoids the Green Line whenever she has to work late.”
Insight #4
CTA must service wants as well as needs to effectively compete.
“I go to H-Mart now because of the car. It’s like actually fantastic. We just drive downtown. There’s also a Japanese market, Mitsui – it’s the only place where you can get Japanese ingredients.”
Synthesis
Low-Fidelity Prototypes
