Prototyping new interactions
to help MTA improve their subway services in NYC
Overview
New York can be an intimidating place to be for many people. Traveling through the city using public transportation could be confusing and overwhelming for many people, especially when using the subways.
For this project, we studied the New York public transportation service with the help of co-creation activities we found what problems people face. And based on those insights we proposed three recommendations that help improve their experience and made physical prototypes to conduct user testing.
Users have mentioned many times that navigating inside the station is confusing. Finding the right platform and even identifying which station to go to for uptown/downtown trains due to poor signage and inconsistent way-finding.
Building the ticketing booth prototype
Pain Points Observed
Improving in-station navigation
Users often get confused about finding the right platform within the train and even identifying which station to go to for uptown/downtown trains due to poor signage and inconsistent way-finding.
Physical cards and its movements
The current MTA physical ticket has a variety of physical issues that prevent easy usage at the turnstile:
- Difficulty in registering the swipe unless its at a certain speed or angle
- The card often folds/warps due to its thin structure and can’t be swiped at the turnstile.
Inclusivity
Most subway stations do not follow universal accessibility standards. Many subway stations do not have escalators, ramps or elevators. People with disabilities find it hard to get inside the platform or on the tracks. Travel planning applications often don’t include the accessibility features of stations especially when planning trips with layovers.
User Journey Map
MTA systems can be complex, with multiple lines, stations, and routes. This complexity makes it sometimes difficult for commuters to understand the navigation system. Especially on bigger stations, there are so many trains all going in different directions travelers find themselves at a scary place boarding the wrong train or going to the wrong platform and ending up being late to the place they were supposed to go. There is an urgent need that authorities to work on having clear signage, improving the lighting from an accessibility point of view as well, and providing consistent, accurate information.
Users face maximum issues from the stage of buying a ticket to getting onto the right platform and getting a train. During these stages, users experience the most pain points.
Many of our co-design activity participants also mentioned that it is challenging for tourists and new users to navigate through the subway systems, and stations as they have various entry points, platforms, and lines, especially the large stations.
Improving the in-station navigation experience
One solution that could help reduce these in-station navigation issues could be by providing users with an interactive maps that help them reach the correct platform with the help of Augmented Reality. MTA has a lot of its users who still use physical passes. As a first phase of the implementation, they can start by providing users with a single-ride ticket where the user is asked to select the train and direction while getting the ticket. The ticket has a QR code that the user can scan and they will get directions to make sure they reach the correct platform. It can also have audio assistance for people who are visually challenged and users who don’t speak English would also benefit from this as they don’t have to rely on others to help them guide.
Testing the Prototype
Part 1
In the first part of the prototype testing, we built a ticket booth where the user can choose their language. It will have all 10 languages recognized in New York. The user can choose the language they are comfortable in and then choose the train they want to take. Here we believe as most people use maps to understand which direction to go in terms of uptown or downtown then they would know. In future the booth could itself have an interface where users can choose their destination and they system will show them what trains they can take from that particular station to reach their location.
Currently, once they choose the direction and then pay. They will get a physical ticket that can be scanned.
Part 2
Once the users have bought the ticket they will be able to see a QR code on the booth as well as on their ticket which they can scan. When scanned it opens a screen that uses AR elements and accesses their live locations to be able to guide them in real time to reach the correct station. It gives them prompts as well as they can get audio assistance that directs them. Additionally when they have reached the correct station it will inform them that they are at the right place and have to now just wait for the train.
Mobile screen prototype sketches
Conclusion
This idea does need to be tested on more people to address the loopholes in it. One also needs to address and strategize how can they motivate users to buy tickets which might take longer as compared to maybe tap and go. As this would save them time inside the station when they are looking for the correct platform.