The ProductA mobile app that guides both tourists and locals to their destinationsHorarios do Funchal, the city of Funchal, Portugal's bus company, challenged us to popularize bus-use for the tourists in Funchal while not diminishing the locals' ability to use the same buses.
Our design is a product that can do both. |
Hand-HoldingHow other European cities guide their visitors to their destinationsDuring the competitive analysis / contextual inquiry phase of our project, we revealed that the most effective transit designs "hand-held" their riders by visually directing them.
This is the design concept we chose to execute after conducting concept validation through speed-dating using storyboards as our method to communicate our ideas. We revealed this is a model that many Europeans, tourist or local, would be familiar with and as a result would be the best concept to execute. 
Paris trains show what tourist attractions can be visited at train stops.
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Our app visually show what attractions can be seen at certain bus stops, like how Paris' trains show what attraction can be seen at a train stop.
MobileA mobile experience that hand-holds you back |
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We originally pursued an in-bus display design. But, through concept validation, we revealed that an app would be more familiar and less expensive way of executing our "hand-holding" concept than installing an expensive display inside a bus could.
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A mock-up of our initial idea: an in-bus display installation
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Save and Suggest DestinationsThinking of destinations before the user doesAs a result of our sketching and paper-prototyping phase, we learned we should design more than simply showing when the buses are coming.
Our users need an app that would guide them on where to go before they figure out how they're going to get there. Even further, locals wouldn't need to know about new locations as much as they would need quick access to ones they have already been to. For this, we designed saving destinations as a feature. |
The Design ProcessHow might we provide a more inviting commute experience in Funchal?This project focused largely on product, interaction, and visual design. We used contextual design research methods to understand where and how our design would be used. From there, we ideated and iterated on concepts and designs to create our final product. The methods and tools we used to design and iterate can be found below.
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