Dot Bus Future State Service
About the Project
To improve the tourist experience on Savannah's Dot Bus, it is proposed to introduce interactive kiosks at bus stops. These kiosks, featuring a user-friendly bus tracking system with intuitive icons and simple names, eliminate the need for tourists to download the existing app, which is impractical for short-term visitors.
This enhancement is informed by firsthand experiences from riding the bus and conducting contextual interviews, providing a deep understanding of this free service that primarily serves downtown and where such improvements can greatly benefit tourists.
My Role
Service Designer
Time Frame
10 weeks
Fall 2023
Tools Used
Figma
Figjam
Adobe Photoshop
Midjourney
Design Process
Secondary Research
Auto-ethnography
Customer Journey
In-depth Interviews
Contextual Interviews
Observations
Service Blueprint
Affinity Mapping
How Might We
Brainstorming
Prioritization
Options Analysis
Future User Journey
Recommended Solution
Prototype
Secondary Research
Before initiating our primary research, we conducted a preliminary value exchange to gain a deeper understanding of the key stakeholders involved in the DOT bus service, along with the various functions associated with this type of service
Auto-Ethnography
To fully immerse ourselves in the experience of the DOT Bus, we embarked on a comprehensive journey by riding the entire route in a loop. This hands-on approach allowed us to interact directly with real passengers, the bus driver, local residents, and tourists, providing us with a firsthand understanding of the service.
User Journey Mapping
Leveraging auto-ethnographic methods, we created a user journey map that identifies and highlights various pain points encountered during the experience.
Interviews and Observations
Positioning ourselves close to local DOT bus stops, we observed and analyzed customers' experiences as they navigated the bus stop and boarded the bus.
We also engaged with individuals directly, conducting impromptu interviews to inquire about their initial discovery of the bus service, their methods for determining the bus's arrival times, and their overall experience with the service.
Additionally, we carried out detailed interviews with frequent riders, concentrating on their usage patterns and gathering insights into their ideal bus-riding experiences.
Service Blueprinting
As we conducted our primary research, we continuously updated our service blueprint to further understand all the components that contribute to the tourist experience.
Customer Employee Interactions:
-
Relatively minimal front-stage interactions between rider and driver
-
Identifying the technology support processes that impact the customer and employees such as GPS tracking and alerts to exit
-
Understanding how the technology & external apps / website functions
Primary Research Key Takeaways
Discovery and onboarding can be confusing for a first-time tourist in Savannah:
-
Understanding the bus stop and wait times
-
Hard to navigate app / how to learn about bus details without downloading the app
-
Learning popular locations and interpreting the digital map - knowing where to go
Affinity Mapping
Through the process of affinity mapping based on our primary research, we identified five main areas of concern.
How Might We...
Ideation
We generated ideas in response to our "How Might We" questions, with a focus on enhancing the tourist experience.
Subsequently, we plotted these ideas on our impact-effort matrix to assist in determining the most effective direction to pursue.
Impact-Effort Matrix
What Can Be Done Today?
What Can Be Done in the Future?
Our Recommended Solution
Future State User Journey Storyboard
Solution Prototype
