How I use design thinking to develop a solution

What method I have used

For this challenge I followed 4 of the 6 steps of the Design Thinking method. Design thinking is used to develop innovative, valuable products or ideas. It is an iterative process based on early testing, rapid failure and changes based on user feedback until you reach the desired solution.

Design thinking has its roots in the scientific method, which starts with the formulation of a hypothesis and then progresses iteratively to a model or theory via a feedback mechanism.

1 & 2 empathise & define state

Understand the problem and who you are solving it for before you try to solve something

About the company

Citymapper is present in many cities around the world and helps millions of commuters and traveler’s with their daily journeys by providing a map service and displaying transport connections in supported city usually with live timetables. According to Citymapper’s website, the app covers much of the U.S. and Europe, as well as part of Asia. One of the Citymapper’s plan is to cover all major urban areas around the globe.

The main features of Citymapper

Depending on the location, Citymapper shows users nearby stations and stops as well as the next departure times in real time. Commuters can enter their home and work addresses to find the desired connections more quickly. For pedestrians and cyclists, the calorie consumption for the distance covered is displayed in addition to the suitable routes. The app is primarily aimed at people who frequently use public transport or want to take advantage of modern offers such as e-scooters or car sharing. What strikes me is that hardly any information about fares and rates is displayed. There is no redirection to online ticket purchase or the possibility to buy a ticket directly in the app.

Understand who you are solving for

To better understand potential users of Citymapper, I wanted to find out what people experience and have to report when buying tickets. For this purpose, I conducted interviews with 5 people aged between 22 and 40 who live in Hamburg and use public transport, car sharing services or bicycles as their main means of transport.

I asked the participants the following questions:

• What app or apps do you use for directions ?
• How do you usually pay your tickets when you use public transport ?
• If you use public transport in another city, how do you pay for your tickets
• Do you use apps to pay your ticket online ?

if yes: What app’s do you use and is there anything that bothers you about the paying process ? What do you miss?

if not:What stops you from buying your ticket online ?

What came out of it

1. When buying tickets online, many feel overwhelmed because they have to download and use many different apps due to the many means of transport on offer.
2. It is sometimes difficult to know which tickets to buy because there are so many different fares with different conditions. This uncertainty is amplified when travelling.
3. None of the ,,map service apps,, except HVV (Public transport association) in Hamburg, offers a way to buy tickets.

Problem statement

The main problem of the interview participants seemed to be that if they want to use a means of transport outside the HVV, they need many different apps from different companies to buy their tickets online. This can be overwhelming. In addition, for many travellers, each country has a different transport system, purchase methods and rules for using tickets, as well as different validity periods and fares.

3 & 4 ideate and prototype

Once the problem has been identified, this phase is about using creativity techniques to explore ideas and turn the best hypothesis into a first prototype.

Hypothesis

Wouldn’t it be great if online ticket sales were possible regardless of the company, means of transport and tariff with only one app without annoying redirections to external services? This is exactly what Citymapper could offer with the new feature and would not only be more attractive for users but also create a unique selling point compared to similar apps. The long-term goal is that all mobility services represented in the cities can be booked centrally via Citymapper — as quickly, informatively and simply as possible

The new feature is designed to easily guide users through the ticket selection and purchase/booking process with only three new pages in the app. Although I have included the start flow in the prototype.

• select start and end destination and the desired means of transport
• get more details about the chosen route and the next departure times as well as the possibility to buy a ticket for the chosen route
• select the different fares available for the means of transport.
• see and change all relevant information and the payment method in an overview before the purchase.
• receive an invoice for the purchased service by e-mail or have the ticket displayed in the app. With all relevant information such as fare selection, validity period and route.

The next step in this project would be to test my hypothesis and proposed ideas to complete the first iteration. Based on these results, a new iteration will follow until the added feature provides a helpful experience to the users.

Main takeaway’s

It was nice to learn about the Design Thinking method in this practical way! What I like most about the method is that fail is almost possible with it and the user and their needs are in the foreground.