Design Challenge #2, Part 1
Prompt:
The NYC metrocard system has remained unchanged for decades. The cost of the metrocard machine infrastructure, the lost time of waiting in line to buy a metrocard, touching a dirty machine to do it, the potential of losing the metrocard, and the ease of gaming the system by swiping your card for others has cost the city millions of dollars and leaves much to be desired from the user experience.
Design a new system that allows a daily user who uses the metro everyday or an-out-of-town visitor who will use the metro just once to get access to the metro, on time, without having a physical NYC metrocard on hand.
The Plan:
After my first challenge, I felt the need to break down these challenges into strategic chunks and give myself more time to work through the design process, allowing me to engage more with the design process. Due to time constraints and limited availability of testers, I will be skipping the testing portion for this challenge and will focus on the following phases:
1. Research phase
2. Define
3. Ideate
4. Prototype
For this post, I’ll be discussing the first two phases, Research and Define. Let’s begin!
What we know:
Users: Everyday NYC Metrocard users + tourists who will used it for a limited time.
User goal: To be able to use the metro system without having a physical card
Constraints:
1. Limited time to get through the turnstile
2. Tourists have many different languages
Research
Metrocard Background:
I dove into research to gain a better understanding of the NYC Metrocard system. First thing I noticed was that there are two options, a card for buses, and a card for trains. For each, there are different payment options.
- Regular metro option, where you pay per ride ($2.75 per ride)
- Unlimited ride cards (7 day unlimited ride option or 30 day unlimited ride option)
- In addition, there are special options for first responders, police, healthcare workers, and students.
Next I looked into where tourists and NYC locals can purchase these options. Tourists can purchase them in the airport or in subway stations. Metrocard stations are available in every subway terminal but there is limited access to them at bus stations.
Another issue I stumbled upon during my research was MTA Scammers, it is said that since 2018, the MTA has lost over $200 Million due to these scams. The scams include individuals swiping their unlimited cards to allow others in, along with those who break MetroCard vending machines and sell the cards at turnstiles.
After doing a deeper search into NYC’s transit system, I decided to look into what cities have the best transit systems and what makes them the best.
Here’s what I found:
Singapore has the highest passenger satisfaction rate in the world at 86%. Farandwide.com states that this is due to “Singapore’s cutting-edge electronic services, including a newly enhanced trip planner, and ticketing options, like an easy-to-use EZ-link card that handily connects to an app.” Additionally, Singapore’s system ranks first in affordability, including tourists options. Other cities that are ranked to have the best metro system include Hong Kong, London, Paris, Madrid, and Chicago. Top reasons include affordability, an easy to understand system, and updated systems (such as using apps to be able to access the metro).
Define
Personas
The Frequent Rider: These are NYC locals, they use the transit system daily to get to/from work. They likely have a main transit terminal and know where to refill their card if need be. Additionally, they know which metro-card option works best for them.
The One-Time Rider: These riders are tourists who are not familiar with the NYC Transit system and don’t care to learn the ins and outs of the system. They want an efficient method to pay and use the transit system.
Synthesizing the Problem:
To determine if there are any patterns that have emerged that I may have missed, I completed a quick affinity diagram. With this, I was able to focus in on a main problem area. The affinity diagram was split into 3 parts: The current system, Positives of the system, and What can be improved/desires of the users.
Main Patterns:
1. There is a demand for a quick and streamlined process from payment to entry
2. Current system is confined to physical locations and there is a focus on card types
3. There is a need to allow metro-card users to easily transfer between different transit types for their commute (Train to Bus etc.)
After my research and affinity diagraming, my final synthesis is that riders need a way to initially purchase metro-cards easily along with refill them, and need to not be restricted to going to a physical location for these actions for both the frequent and onetime rider, thus, revealing a need for a mobile platform. The mobile platform will help riders move from payment to transit entry effectively but will also help them manage their metro-card types better (i.e. provide them with more information on each type, offer a fill as you go option, and offer unlimited options for frequent riders). It will also allow them to commute between different transit types easily.
From here, I went into ideation, which I will discuss next week! Cheers!
