Public transportation apps can be daunting for adults over age 65 and users with cognitive disabilities. This article explores the importance of inclusive design and innovative research methods to uncover genuine user needs.
By focusing on mental models and reassurance; we suggested ways to boost independence and confidence, making public transit apps more accessible and empowering for all.
This article was brought you by Michal Halperin Ben Zvi, PhD. & Ziv Marmur
Public transportation is a lifeline to jobs, education, healthcare, and more. Planning a public transit ride may seem straightforward for many, but for older adults (16% of the U.S. population) and individuals with cognitive disabilities (4.6% among 21–64 years old in the U.S.), coordinating a bus or subway ride can be complex, bewildering, and stress-inducing. They may be uncertain that they’ve caught the right bus or find planning step-free routes complex, for example. Transportation is a key factor in active and healthy aging, yet older adults are twice as likely to forgo rides compared to younger adults. For individuals with cognitive disabilities, accessible public transportation is vital for independence, community participation, and a fulfilling life.
Transit apps have emerged as solutions for making public transportation more accessible, efficient, and user-friendly, encouraging greater use of public transit services. These apps offer convenient access to trip planning, real-time information, and fare payment. Studies have shown that real-time information can enhance perceived safety, reduce waiting anxiety, increase perceived reliability, and overall build positive attitudes toward transit.
Recognizing these challenges, Moovit, a leading urban mobility app, collaborated with JDC, The leading global Jewish humanitarian organization, to champion inclusive solutions. In Israel,JDC works to ensure the welfare of the most vulnerable populations in Israeli society, such as people with disabilities and older adults, and leads dozens of social programs that address the root causes of Israeli society’s challenges. Moovit, known for guiding people in getting around town using any mode of public and shared transportation, incorporates accessibility features to empower people across the disability spectrum to use public transit with more assurance. The partnership between Moovit and JDC aims to genuinely understand the public transit needs of Individuals with disabilities, including cognitive disabilities and to create enhanced solutions for them. The app is optimized with screen reading features for low vision users, including TalkBack/VoiceOver capabilities, identifies wheelchair-accessible routes and stations, and calculates step-free routes. The Moovit app is also designed with optimized menus and buttons for those with hand-motor disabilities. The partnership adopted an inclusive design approach that proves indispensable, ensuring that transportation options are accessible and tailored to the unique needs of these populations. In the current research, we aim to explore the mental models of planning a ride to an unfamiliar destination.
Implementing Inclusive design
Implementing Inclusive Design requires a deep understanding of users’ unique needs and pain points. This involves an open-minded approach to research, focusing on discovering real needs rather than validating existing hypotheses.
By implementing an inclusive design approach into user experience research, we aimed to enhance Moovit’s value and explore ideas for new features that add value. We explored the mental models of these populations to make transit planning more accessible and equitable and ultimately empower them to increase their public transit use.
Methodology
Our project methodology was like embarking on a journey, moving beyond mere hypotheses to an exploratory mindset. We conducted comprehensive evaluations and opted for focus groups to capture nuanced insights. These sessions were crucial in understanding the challenges faced by older adults and individuals with cognitive disabilities in ride planning.
Participants were divided into five groups based on capabilities and usage patterns: non-navigation app users, navigation app users, non-public transportation users, older adults, and individuals with cognitive impairments. Each group comprised 10–12 older adults or 3–5 individuals with cognitive disabilities. Separate meetings with staff validated findings and provided additional insights into trip planning.
Individuals with cognitive disabilities, living and working within the community, demonstrated varying levels of independence, reading and writing abilities, and digital literacy. In contrast, older adults exhibited diverse digital literacy levels but were uniformly independent and active.
Findings
During the focus group sessions, we unveiled the nuanced aspects of decision dynamics, shedding light on users’ autonomy challenges and their profound desire for independence. We examined the intricate dance of gathering information, risk perception, and the essential elements of trust and reassurance in the context of public transportation as a perceived risk event.
Decision-Making
For older adults and individuals with cognitive disabilities, transfers and certainty are more crucial than the trip duration and waiting time. They perceive rides as significant risk events, frequently questioning if the route is suitable, whether there are changes, and if they will reach their destination on time.
Unlike other users, their decision-making process starts a few days before the journey, often at home, with support from family members or caregivers. They seek confirmation, stick to familiar routes, and repeatedly check the route, relying heavily on their relatives for reassurance.
“I ask my children or people who live nearby if the route suggested to me is the best”.
Risk Perception
Transportation poses inherent risks, leading to repeated route verifications. Older participants meticulously check their routes three to four times before embarking on a journey, gathering information about future rides several days in advance. This emphasizes the vital role of reassurance and confidence-building measures in ensuring a smooth transportation experience.
“The ride in public transportation is stressful; I don’t know if there will be a traffic jam, I don’t know which bus to take, where I should get on and off the bus, how can I be sure if I would get where I need to be on time.”
For individuals with cognitive impairments, They fixate on the decision-making process, preventing them from changing the route according to circumstances.
Despite this, they all strongly desired to use transportation apps, recognizing them as a significant factor in their quest for autonomy. However, their struggle with complex interfaces poses a notable barrier to adopting these apps.
Presenting features and UX/UI changes aligned with key findings
We proceeded in two directions: identifying beneficial features for this population in the Moovit app and conceptualizing a new experience tailored to their needs.
Identifying Existing Features
Saving a Route
For these audiences, the planning process begins days before the actual ride. If these users search for a ride several days in advance, they need the ability to save a future ride. Currently, Moovit allows users to save their preferred route (a new capability), but only in terms of structure, stations, and lines, without specifying a day and time. The ability to save a specific trip should be considered, as it is beneficial for this population and also relevant for “unfamiliar” rides to novice and intermediate users.
Reassurance
One of the main findings of the research was the constant need for reassurance at every step of the trip: from the planning stage, throughout the period until the ride, and during the trip itself.
Trip Planning
Comfort Trip: Moovit allows users to configure preferences regarding walking, transfers, and transit types to tailor route suggestions. Based on these capabilities, a predefined “Comfort Mode” can be configured, which considers factors such as walking distance and pace, the maximum number of transfers, and the accessibility of stations and vehicles. This mode is designed to offer routes specifically optimized for comfort and ease of use.
Match Score: Is this trip good for me? Introduce a “Match Score” feature, similar to Netflix’s match score, that rates routes based on how well they meet the specific needs of the user or defined populations. Such a score contributes to the user’s ability to better choose a suitable journey and reduce decision fatigue.
The Period of Time Until the Trip
Is this trip still taking place? Are there changes or disruptions in the journey? This is relevant only if a future trip can be saved (as previously suggested). During this period of time, Moovit can provide updates and notifications on the trip’s status, changes, and even alternatives (more relevant for regular users).
During the Trip
Am I waiting at the right stop? Am I on the right line? This is the most anxiety-inducing stage of the user journey, as there is no room for mistakes. Providing reassurance at this step can create a success-moment that builds trust in the app and confidence in the user’s ability to manage independently and succeed.
External Reassurance
Receiving reassurance from a trusted person is crucial for these users. Moovit currently supports this need with two features:
- Share: Allows passengers to share station, line, and route details with a contact on their smartphone. The ability to share a route is particularly relevant to their needs.
- Safe Ride: Enables trusted contacts to follow a passenger’s ride in real-time. This feature aligns perfectly with the needs of this audience, as it reduces anxiety for both the passengers and their trusted contacts during the most critical part of the user journey.
These features provide the external reassurance necessary for users with cognitive impairments, ensuring they feel supported and secure throughout their journey.
Thinking of a More Suitable User Experience
When we asked this population about their smartphone usage, we found their smartphone literacy is limited. They mainly use WhatsApp and Facebook, and perceive Public Transportation Apps like Moovit complicated. Their Facebook usage is passive, primarily scrolling the feed, while their WhatsApp usage is active, involving writing messages and interacting with push notifications.
Using any app besides WhatsApp and Facebook is perceived as complicated and requires a long learning curve. The anxiety associated with using public transportation further distances them from adopting apps like Moovit. Improving usability and adding features cannot change users’ perception of their ability to use a utility app, especially during stressful moments. Therefore, a new, familiar experience is required.
Conversational UI as a Solution
A conversational user interface (UI), similar to WhatsApp, can provide a suitable experience. The advantages of a conversational UI for this audience include:
- Textual vs. Visual: Information is received in a textual manner, which is clearer than a visual representation.
- Guided Experience: A set of limited actions derived from a specific context or question can guide users effectively.
- Recovery: Since the entire interaction happens on a single screen, there’s no need to navigate between different screens, making the recovery process easier (e.g., changing destination, date, etc.).
- Voice Support: Voice interaction can be easily supported for user input, offering an alternative to typing, which is often more difficult.
We aimed to create a user experience that combines a structured ChatBot, which presents specific questions leading to another set of questions for a guided experience, with an unguided AI chat that offers a more open-ended interaction. This approach helps guide users unfamiliar with AI and its prompt experience by providing guiding questions.
In January 2024, Moovit launched a ChatBot powered by an AI engine as part of the Moovit app, allowing users to plan a trip by typing their origin and destination and receiving recommended routes. By leveraging a conversational UI, we can create a more familiar and user-friendly experience for users with cognitive impairments, helping them navigate public transportation with greater ease and confidence.
Takeaway
Inclusive design means prioritizing user research
Conduct thorough research to understand the mental models, unique needs and pain points of excluded users such as older adults and individuals with cognitive disabilities.
Emphasize reassurance and system feedback
Implement UI elements that offer reassurance across the user journey. Reassurance is crucial for these audiences to ensure their actions and decisions are correctly recorded in the system. Therefore, system feedback is also a critical aspect that needs to be prioritized.
Design for familiarity
People are more likely to engage with interfaces that feel familiar. By leveraging established design patterns and interactions from commonly used apps, you can reduce the learning curve and create a less intimidating experience, which is critical for this audience. An unfamiliar interface can be a barrier that prevents them from even attempting to interact with and learn the system.
Reduce advanced interactions
Focus on common actions and make them achievable through straightforward interactions. Identify advanced features and explore alternative ways to achieve them or provide clear bypasses for users who may struggle with complex operations. This keeps the core experience smooth and accessible.
Provide a variety of ways for users to interact with the app
such as adding voice commands and exploring non-touch-based interactions if relevant. This caters to different user preferences and abilities, making the app more inclusive.
Focus on empowerment
By understanding user anxieties and common pain points, we can design a service that empowers them to achieve their goals. Leverage familiar elements and interactions to reduce the learning curve, fostering a sense of control and independence. This creates a stress-free environment where everyone feels confident using the service, promoting true equality of use.
Authors bio
Michal Halperin Ben Zvi (LinkedIn)
Dr. Michal Halperin Ben Zvi is a seasoned product expert specializing in designing engaging digital experiences for older users. With a proven track record of boosting user engagement and adoption, she’s collaborated with leading B2C companies, HMOs, and government agencies. As a UX researcher and product strategist at JDC ESHEL, Michal’s groundbreaking work on the National Guide “LOG IN” has redefined standards for age-friendly digital product design.
Human Experience Design leader with 20 years of experience transforming innovative technology, business objectives, and user needs into engaging and impactful products.
Mental Models: Key to Inclusive Transit Apps was originally published in UX Planet on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.