Dugout Loop
by The Boring Company
The Dugout Loop is a high-speed underground public transportation system in which passengers are transported via compatible autonomous electric vehicles at up to 150 mph. I was part of an ambitious project to design the concept app of "Loop" travel experience.
"Resolving the problem of soul-destroying traffic
by going underground." Elon Musk
Role: Design Lead, UX Designer
Project Team: Iris Minji, Robert Walker, Carissa Gabilheri
Tools Used: Pen/Paper, Sketch, Photoshop, InVision
Platform: Mobile (iOS)
Timeline: 2 weeks
Reimagining Public Transit
Designing urban mobility to support and boost people’s punctuality, creativity, & productivity while traveling efficiently.
*Moodboard for design inspiration
Integration & Research
User Interviews / Secondary Research / Heuristic Evaluation / Affinity Mapping / Competitive & Comparative Analysis / Persona / User Flows
“How can the Boring Company imagine an ambitious project to redesign the public transit experience?”
We conducted 9 face-to-face interviews & 30 survey responses with users in the Greater Los Angeles Area.
Primary Findings from Interviews
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Often people feel unsafe while using public transit.
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Users want to buy & access tickets via mobile phone.
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Users find public transit to be inconvenient & indirect.
Primary Findings from Survey
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More than half of users would be interested in public transit if faster & cheaper.
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Many users find public transit dirty.
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63% want their ticket on their phone.
*User Quotes
Secondary Research
My team and I decided to conduct secondary research for this project to gather further information. By doing so, we were able to find real data about people who currently use the Los Angeles Metro and bus system. This data, conducted by LA Metro Research, covered a total of 18,000 riders.
69% of riders own
a smartphone
More than 50% of riders use transit to commute to work or school
21% of riders feel unsafe on Metro
Light Rail
65% use a transit app occasionally to
very often
*Data from 2 surveys conducted by LA Metro covering a total of 18,000 people.
Who's riding the Loop?
Persona
Based on our research, we created our user persona, Tina Transit, who is a representative of the average user of the Loop transportation system and embodies their goals and frustrations.
Key Research Takeaways
Outdated Transportation System
Transits are often crowded,
old, and unsanitary.
Public Transportation Safety
Safety is always a concern for users, especially new transit systems.
Completely Mobile
Users want all information and guidance on their phones.
Inconvenient Payment
Tap cards or getting tickets from
kiosk machines is a hassle.
Users prefer mobile payment.
Re-defined Problem Statement
Tina Transit needs efficient, cost-effective, and
safe public transportation.
How might we create a mobile experience for her to utilize everyday on a brand new autonomous transit system?
Design Process
Design Studio / Sketching / Wireframes / Paper
Prototypes / Moodboard / Style Guide / Concept Mockup
Where the problem is analyzed, the solution is achieved.
Usability testings confirmed that we needed to focus on the context and utility. Buttons needed to be clearer, navigation needed to be precise, and the interaction needed to be flawless.
Low-Fidelity
We created a paper prototype, then made the flow on Marvel to test users with a given task scenario.
We learned that users want real-time info so they can plan their day accordingly. We also learned that users wanted more departure options. Overall, users needed clarity on icons, cost of the ride, departure times, and detailed directions.
Medium-Fidelity
Ideation of our design through sketches and medium fidelity prototypes to test and ideate the product.
We learned from users that they want more payment options and still needed more clarity. All users were confused by the "Select Departure" page. The users wanted more consistency and clarity throughout the app.
*Our medium fidelity prototype was created medium-high because this is a new concept and needs more visual for users to understand how it would look & work.
High-Fidelity Wireframes
Sign Up Process
Landing Page
Multiple Iteration of "Select Departure Page"
Test, Iterate, Refine
When we were creating high fidelity wireframes, 5 iterations of the “Select Departure” page were made. We settled on the last iteration, employing dots to indicate the journey in a single line format. We wanted users to understand the full journey of their choice.
Concept Mockup
Clickable Prototype: http://bit.ly/2MY8jOA
Next Steps
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Further iterate to improve the user’s mental model of a transit system that dynamically changes according to demand over future versions of the Loop app.
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Continue to work with the Loop engineering team to collaborate on the physical experience.
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Update with information as the system is built, taking into account any changes that occur during the development of the physical experience.
More Work
League of Women Voters
