In my research of Philadelphia’s public transport usage, I found a large amount of passengers
using buses were doing so without the SEPTA app. Why was that? When I downloaded the app,
I realized. This case study was aimed to boost public transport usage in Philly, via a user-
centred redesign of the app.
ROLE
TEAM
CLIENT
TIMELINE
UI DESIGNER
UX RESEARCHER
SELF
SEPTA
2 MONTHS
Case Study:
SEPTA App
DESIGN CHALLENGE
The SEPTA App was meant to be the go-to for all things transportation in Philadelphia, but complicated the process of movement far more than it augmented it.
The challenge here was to design a system that not only was easy-to-use for all age groups, but also make the process as appealing as possible in order to increase the App’s MAU.
USER RESEARCH
Design flaws
Sept 15
MEJA_
Worth the read
Worst designed transit app I've
ever used
Mar 16
paulraphael
The positive reviews are perplexing. Maybe
they're rewarding Septa's diversity initiative;
clearly the app designer is from a far-away
planet of reptilian creatures who perceive
time in 4 dimensions and use an inscrutiable
non-Euclidean visual language. Bravo!
But I can't figure out a bus schedule to save
my life. The app is full of things that look like
icons but aren't; the different sections
(buses, trains) are designed differently; it
doesn't do half the things you'd expect it to
do based on what city transit apps do the
world over.
Please, please hire a human UX designer and
start over.
Terrible
May 24
JustDent
Unreliable for real-time bus info
4y ago
Martinphilly
Almost Worthless
Feb 13
Sawdust & Noise
How to make a bad app worse
5y ago
Scout88
Frustrated SEPTA App User
1y ago
Rider Thulcandera
Information disconnect
1y ago
1bhfmom
USER FLOW
The old app had an unnecessarily complex user flow making the process not only frustrating, but borderline impossible..
HOW DO I KNOW WHICH ROUTE?
TO SOLVE THIS
I created a "Where To" control, which lets the app do the work instead of the user.
DESIGN CONSISTENCY
Every page of the app felt like a different app.. let's fix that.
Old Design
Redesign
LASTLY, EXPERIENCE
Travelers usually want the quickest way to get around.. but, everyone can be a traveler.
