I have held various customer service roles before I moved into marketing and design. The experience of helping customers use a product stayed with me. I believe that ultimately sparked the move into UX Design, and is the underlying reason why I have always brought empathy for the customer into my work.

rationale

I was born and raised in Germany until the travelbug brought me to Sydney in 2009. I studied graphic design at Shillington College in 2014 before I joined the UX Design Industry Mentors Program at Tractor earlier this year.

I currently work at a digital marketing agency called Blackglass, where I specialize in SEO, but also get involved with project management and UX consulting.

biography

@evaschafrothwww.evaschafroth.com

eva schafroth

How might we…

… make the opal card system more rewarding for people who have to do a long commute in peak times?

… make the opal card system more affordable for people who are saving for a holiday?

… make ‘hacks’ unnecessary for people who want to save money on public transport but don’t have time to perform those?

Ben, 31Marketing Consultant

The everyday long commuter.

Ben takes the train to and home from work everyday from Cronulla to the CBD. In general Ben is happy with the opal card but feels it is very expensive using it for his long commute. He currently spends the maximum charge of $60 a week on public transport. He really wants to try the hacks that recently surfaced on social media and save money because he feels he could spend that money on better things like a holiday.

Once a card is connected, the account section enables users to manage cards, payments and travel history.

The plan a trip section allows users to plan journeys ahead as well as functioing as a fare calculator. It also suggests sightseeing routes for tourists.

The rewards section shows the status of the 8-journey travel reward and introduces an additional loyalty system. Points earned can be redeemed at participating retailers across Sydney.

The entertainment section acts as an “in-flight entertainment system” offering news, radio stations and games. Functionality can be expanded upon using rewards points earned.

How might we…

… make the opal card system pricing more transparent for tourists?

… make it easier to keep track of the number of fares for people who want to take advantage of the free fare reward?

… make it easier to monitor spending for people who are on a budget?

Lisa, 20Office Administrator

The tourist.

Lisa was impressed with the opal system during her visit. It made moving around for her super easy and convenient. She thought it was great she didn’t have to buy a ticket before riding and felt she saved time that she could use to see more things. However, she found the pricing very confusing. Prices varied at different times and she had trouble keeping track of the number of rides she already did in the week to take advantage of free fares. Because of this she also found it hard to plan for her tight travel budget.

“Examine and improve Sydney’s public transport system.

The Opal card system is designed to make travelling on public transport as simple and hassle free as possible. Other than speaking to customer service the website is currently the only way to interact with the card system including signing up in the first place, connecting your credit card for payment, topping up the card, customer care, news etc.

Research pain points in the public transport experience and identify opportunities for improvement which will ultimately improve the public transport system.”

the brief

the researchAfter I conducted 12 user interviews and we collated research in class, I created the following three key personas.

“How might we”-statements were the starting point for brainstorming first broad ideas.

The main pain points identified in the research phase came down to

• a lack of transparency

• a difficulty to plan ahead

• a lack of value and fairness in the current reward of free travel after 8 journeys

The initial idea from that was an app that would solve these issues by providing clear status messages, a trip planner, an additional rewards system and an entertainment area.

How might we…

… make the system more rewarding for people who only use public transport sporadically and never reach 8 journeys in a week?

… make it easy to amend a fare for people who forget to tap off on buses?

… build trust and loyalty for people who fear being charged too much?

Christina, 38Nutritionist

The sporadic user that doesn’t travel in peak times.

In general Christina is happy with the opal card system, but she feels it is expensive for her because when she does take public transport it is a long commute. Christina hardly gets free fares because she usually doesn’t reach 8 trips in a week. It happened to her that she forgot to tap off when riding a bus. She then called up customer service wanting to ensure she got the right fare only to be told the system needs a few hours to register the fare. Now she writes down every move she makes to compare to her account online when she gets home.

the idea

the feedbackUsability testing led to the conclusion that the app was overwhelming and trying to solve too many problems at once. I needed to establish a focus.

“I think I wouldn’t use the entertainment section. I have

other apps for that.”

“The rewards points are interesting, but I don’t

understand how it works.”

“I’m already using Tripview to plan my trips.”

I solved the need for transparency through detailed history tracking and the want for more value by adding a separate loyalty program.

the 1st iteration

The loyalty app for the opal card makes it easy to track spending, monitor trip count and understand pricing as well as offering additional rewards for users that currently don’t benefit from the free travel reward after 8 journeys.

the 2nd iteration

the feedback Further usability testing validated the idea and uncovered where navigation was unclear.

“How do I earn points?”“What are the numbers

next to the trips?”

June 2015