Empathize
I started by conducting interviews to understand the experience of bus riders in Philadelphia. I found that some travelers rarely use public transport because of its inferiority to personal vehicles and ride-sharing. If I have my own car, why pay a fare? If I can plug my destination into my phone, why decipher a map?
Define
Public transportation in Philadelphia lacks the simplicity of its competitors, and unfamiliarity with the system is a barrier to travelers with access to alternative means of transit. Users need a way to quickly and easily understand SEPTA’s capabilities, pricing, and availability in the event it’s their only travel option.
Ideate
I sketched some broad concepts that would address the problem I defined. These were rough ideas, vaguely outlined by a simple line drawing with captions. These concepts included an app, a poster, a transit map, and a virtual assistant.
Prototype
Based on feedback gathered from the ideation stage, I expanded on the virtual assistant concept with further sketching. This product would be a voice-powered software, similar to Google Assistant or Apple’s Siri. The user would communicate with the assistant about routes, fares, and other travel information, and receive simple and customized solutions to their queries.
Test
Informed by the sketches generated in the prototyping stage, I generated a drawing of the assistant as it might appear on a smartphone screen. Included in this drawing were suggestions of an interface and graphical style. Considerations were given to the arrangement of information on the screen and feedback from user input.
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Bus Assistant 