Citymapper goes farther

through design thinking.

If I send you my current location, which app are you going to use in order to join me?

Think about it

You got it?

Most probably your answer is: Google Maps. Nice choice. However, let me introduce you another one: Citymapper. This tool also helps you get from point A to B. It presents you different options so you can choose the one that best suits you, according to each moment, distance, transport, price…

Once we’ve chosen the most convenient route, how can we get the tickets for the transport?

There is still something which can make this moving experience even better: a feature with ticketing and payment integration. So Citymapper will help the user during the hall process: from the research of the routes, until they get to the desired place.

You will find my suggestion to face the problem: a feature for this app that solves the pain of having to purchase different public transport tickets by different channels.

Actually, since April 2019 they’re already working on a solution: Citymapper PASS. For instance it’s just operating in London (with the aim to grow worldwide), that’s why here I share with you my simple workflow proposal which includes a ticketing step on this journey.

As the user is going to be the centre of all decisions, it is very important to understand him: what he does and why.

While talking with potential consumers, I realize that the featured tool while moving is Google maps. Many of them have it installed in their device by decree, so they are already familiar with it.

Each city has his own scheme and traffic infrastructure. If they are in them own, maybe they already know the options they may consider when moving around. Nevertheless, what happens when travelling abroad? It often entails choosing among several ticket offers, points of sales, limited schedules, cashless, language troubles, queues… If they normally appreciate them time, when they travel they do it even more.

That’s why sometimes they even complement this experience with specific apps of the city which informs them about the timetables and prices of the transport. In order to make the best choice, they may also read online forums and blogs to get other tourist opinions.

So after all, we are talking about a restless user, who wants to optimize his trips in a dynamic way to get the most out of his plans. That’s why there are two factors that condition the choice of the route: time and price.

Between a problem and a solution, there is always one step: design.

That’s why the base of the following workflow it’s designed to face three requirements:

Considering this three clues and after brainstorming, all ideas that did not meet these needs were discarded.

While creating, I kept the conversation going with potential users and I realized that (in addition to time and price) there is still a third factor that may influence them choice: sustainability. That’s why I decided to re-organize route options according to this three factors, but taking into account that not all of them will condition everyone with the same intensity.

So with this workflow proposal users can move around in town or worldwide, planning the hall journey in just one channel: including public and private transports. In order to go, they just need to tap.

So now, if I tell you that my current location is:

Pamplona, 96. 08018 Barcelona

You can ask to someone across the street (which is nice), or you can join me with Citymapper (which is even better).

See you then!

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