LIN ZHANG
Toronto Transit Tap
Client Name
Toronto Transit Commission
Platform
Website, Mobile, iWatch
Methods
Agile UX, user research, survey & interview, usability testing, sketching, mid and high-fidelity prototyping
Tools
Axure, Balsamiq, Photoshop, Illustrator
Project Overview​
The implementation of new technologies to pay to use the TTC is currently ongoing. Implementation and functionality of Presto is not going as smoothly as many hope. Through our design project, we hope to turn Toronto into a “smart city” by adding more ways to pay for transit using smart technology, particularly on smartphones and smartwatches.​
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For public transit users, Toronto Transit Tap (TTT) makes it easy to pay for transit by tapping or scanning their smartphone and/or smartwatch. Our product will be helpful and more convenient compared with the current use of Presto, aits it will help customers get to their destinations faster while carrying fewer things on their person, like cards, tokens, or cash.
Our Approach
Architecture Diagram
Our system primarily relies on three types of information systems: the platforms we will be designing for (the web, a smartphone, and a smartwatch), servers and databases to store user's account and financial information, and the machines which will read the bar codes on the smartphone and smartwatch.
Final Designs
All Videos
Desktop website final design
Mobile app final design
iWatch app final design
Project Limitations
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Cost of the machine (scanner) needed to read barcodes on smartphones and smartwatches.
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Users would not be able to pay if all available scanners are broken. Currently the TTC will let Presto users ride for free when this happens, but this is not always the case, especially when transit users have to take shuttle buses.
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A lack of formal user research since no app like this currently exists in any part of the world (to our knowledge). Much of what we designed was a combination of various apps and services.
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Usability testing was only done with graduate student transit users. We may have gotten different results had we been able to test a greater variety of transit users from different backgrounds.
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Some features were not implemented due to security concerns.
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Recommendations regarding the size of radio buttons could not be followed through due to Axure’s limitations.
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Internet access is currently not available in most subway stations, so users would currently not be able to use this app to pay for transit. No timeline has been set as to when, or if, Internet access will be expanded across TTC stations.
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The prototype is currently based on the adult fare class, similar to how Presto currently operates. Those who want to travel based on senior/student or post-secondary rates would have to pay the adult rate at this time.
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Interac is currently not accepted as a payment method for users who prefer paying with debit over credit and/or Paypal.
Future Work
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TTT was currently designed for iOS, and has the potential to be designed for Android in the future.
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Perform a different usability test with actual TTC passengers of varying ages and transit usage frequency instead of classmates (for example, ask them whether they are accessing the public transit regularly before we test them).
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Do more security studies in order to improve the implementation of auto-load features.
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Expand more fare options for senior/student and post-secondary users. According to a TTC employee, Presto will expand its offerings to include passes for different types of users by the end of 2017, so this idea is feasible.
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Potential to allow Interac as a payment method for those who do not want to pay with a credit card and/or for users who do not have a Paypal account.
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Ask TTC and Metrolinx to take a look at our prototypes and have them pay us if they wish to implement it (after everything has been refined and finalized).