BOXCAR
A mobile app that provides commuters with the option to reserve parking near the train station or book luxury buses into NYC
OVERVIEW
This was a mobile app redesign for our client Boxcar Transit. They asked us to improve their customer convertibility ratio as they were losing a significant percentage of users between the download and account creation stages.
ROLE
UX Researcher, UX/UI Designer, Information Architect
TOOLS
User interviews, screeners + surveys, affinity mapping, persona, competitive analysis, sketching, low- mid- and high-fidelity wire-framing, prototyping, responsive design, logo + icon design, branding, Sketch app, InVision, Principle
ABOUT THE COMPANY:
Boxcar is focused on improving the suburban commuting experience. Their app based platform offers innovative solutions (parking), superior products (transportation), and attentive customer service. Their userbase is comprised of suburban commuters located in New Jersey and Connecticut.
● Parking: Airbnb rental model focused around transportation hubs
● Transportation: luxury commuter buses from underserved areas
THE CHALLENGE:
Our main task was to assist Boxcar in improving their customer convertibility ratio. They were losing a significant percentage of users between the download and account creation stages. Our job was to help discover the following:
1. Who is Boxcar losing?
2. Why is Boxcar losing them?
3. How can we enhance the Boxcar user experience to increase user retention rate?
RESEARCH
Our initial approach into the research phase consisted of three research studies
Interviews with potential users to learn about their goals, needs, behaviors, and pain points.
Interviews with existing users to learn what they enjoyed about the platform, and of any pain points.
Usability testing of the existing platform to learn about the usability for a new user and find the pain points or design opportunities on the existing app.
We then synthesized the data we had collected using affinity mapping to organize our observations into insights based on common themes and relationships.
Interviews with Potential Users
Key Insights:
Users like to carefully plan their commute to make it more time efficient.
Overcrowding makes it hard for them to find a seat and work during their commute.
Don’t want to spend too much on their commute.
Local parking lots have wait lists that are years long so they often walk or are dropped off.
5 Potential Users:
35-45 yr | 3 Females | 2 Males
Reside in targeted NJ suburban commuter towns
Frequent commuter from NJ to NYC
Not current user of the boxcar services
Walks or parks their car by the train
Interviews with Existing Users
3 Experienced Users:
45-55 yr | 1 Male | 2 Females
Current user of the service
Has learnt to use the app
Member of advisory board
Key Insights:
Love that favorites and reservations are easily accessible.
Enjoy the advance booking option.
Customer service is amazing.
Frequency of bus service could be better.
Usability Test of Existing Product
To ensure we gathered relevant data we sourced testers who commute daily to NYC, use parking or public transportation and frequently use commuting apps and found
5 Testers: 28-55 yr | 3 Females | 2 Males
We asked the testers to open the app and give us their first impressions of the look and feel. We then asked them to complete a series of tasks including booking a parking space and to speak openly about their interaction and experience in order to take note of the things that were working as well as to identify pain points and the reason why so many were not signing up for Boxcar.
Key Findings -
Confusing homepage for first time user.
Find the app troublesome to navigate.
Cannot make out if bus and parking are separate services.
Checkout is difficult and confusing to get through.
Kept looking for more logistical information.
Meet Benjamin!
After synthesizing the data from our interviews and usability testing we developed Benjamin, a persona to provide a consolidated view of the needs, goals, pain points and behaviors of Boxcar’s users. Examining his journey step by step gave us a deep understanding into the daily struggle of seeking parking as part of the commuting experience, and would lead us to the problem that stood out.
Benjamin’s Morning Journey
With Benjamin on hand we walked through the existing process of commuting in the morning including his overall morning and his interaction with the app. The Journey Map below allowed us to visualize the highs and lows experienced by commuters and the ways in which we may be able to alleviate these pain points with a smoother design.
The Problem
Every day users commute to New York City from New Jersey and Connecticut via public transportation.
Benjamin, a financial planner is a punctual man, but his commute is unpredictable. He is never confident that he will have a place to park or a seat on the morning rush train. He starts his day very stressed and upset.
How might we help him have an enjoyable and productive commute?
Competitive Analysis
Local Competitors
Boxcars local competition consists of government operated parking lots and garages.
With a surplus of demand and wait lists in commuting towns ranging from a few months to 7 years, these services have a limited digital footprint and inventory and presented the opportunity for Boxcar to come into existence.
Indirect Competitors
In preparation for designing a solution we researched competitors that serve different functions and demographics to learn about functionality offered, and design options particularly when it comes to on-boarding and parking flow that worked and didn’t work, in order to bring the best practices in the market to Boxcar.
FEATURE PRIORITIZATION
Based on our insights from the stakeholders feedback, user research, and competitive analysis we prioritize the 3 following elements as we entered into the design phase.
DESIGN
We went through 6 rounds of design studio as a team, initially generating ideas, honing in on what was working, and piecing together the best ideas to create the first lo-fi prototype.
We then rapidly tested and iterated upon the initial design until we reached our final hi-fi prototype.
1. Lo-Fi Prototype
2. Mid-Fi Prototype
3. Hi-Fi Prototype
PROTOYPE
Book a $10 parking spot!
Information Architecture
To ensure that the developers understood how the screens were connected and the task flow from new user to a registered user. To do so I created a dynamic site-map, also known as an app-map and the task flow from start to finish.
Design Guide
To ensure that the developers would be able to recreate the look and feel of the app we provided a detailed explanation of the colors, typography, and UI elements that had been used.
NEXT STEPS
Continue researching and building out bus portion to maintain consistency
Interview users on how a website might benefit their commute
Enhance User Interface design, possibly adding another color to the app
Building and integrating owner dashboard
Marketing: targeting users from towns that do not have train stations
Partnership with municipal parking lots