BostonTmap - Addressing usability issues and optimizing UI elements
My role
UX Designer | Researcher
Tools
AdobeXD, UX Research Methodologies,
Team
Worked in a cross-functional team collaborated with stakeholders and researchers.
Introduction & Project Scope
Boston is home to thousands of students and young professionals who rely on the MBTA daily for commuting. However, navigating the city’s public transit system often comes with its challenges—unclear schedules, unreliable real-time updates, and inefficient route planning. Enter Boston T-Map, a mobile app designed to simplify the commuting experience by providing accurate train and bus schedules at users' fingertips. Despite its utility, T-Map was falling short in meeting user expectations. Many commuters found themselves struggling to locate accurate transit information, dealing with inefficient routes, and lacking real-time updates. Our mission? Redesign T-Map into an intuitive, fast, and reliable transit companion that empowers users to travel smarter.
Goals 🎯
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Enhance real-time transit tracking for better commuting efficiency.
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Streamline the interface to reduce cognitive load and improve usability.
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Increase adoption rates by making T-Map accessible and intuitive for new users.
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Improve route planning with clear, data-driven recommendations.
Discovering Challenges
Through user interviews, heuristic evaluations, and competitive analysis, we identified major pain points:
❌ Unclear Schedules – Users struggled to find accurate train and bus timings.
❌ Inefficient Route Planning – Limited route suggestions led to longer travel times.
❌ Lack of Live Updates – Users lacked real-time arrival information.
❌ Complex UI – Navigation was not intuitive for first-time users.
Strategy & Planning
We took a human-centered, iterative approach to redesign T-Map, focusing on clarity, efficiency, and real-time accuracy.
Research-Driven Decisions: Conducted user testing, affinity mapping, and data analysis to inform design choices.
Design & Prototyping:
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Redesigned real-time tracking to provide accurate bus and train arrivals.
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Optimized route planning to suggest the fastest and most reliable transit options.
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Improved UI navigation for quick access to schedules and alerts.
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Integrated live alerts for service changes and delays.
Testing & Refinement:
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Conducted A/B testing to validate usability improvements.
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Implemented feedback loops for continuous iteration.
Market Research
These are some of the perspectives that we thought of to understand better, what the current stakeholders feel about the website and the competitors in the market:-affinity mapping, personas, mixed method research, empathy maps, competitor analysis, wireframes, usability testing, high-fidelity prototypes, visual design, user testing, design strategy.
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To find out the problem we conducted four usability tests with 2 current users and 2 New users
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Users pointed out that they didn't understand what the Arrows indicating
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They mentioned that the list of all trains on one card was confusing and difficult to figure out
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They mentioned it is frustrating to scroll up and down to find the arrival time of the train at a particular station
My Approach
To better understand current workflow challenges and pain points with the existing tools & identify key tasks for different user roles within UPS that the new tool needed to address, I decided to conduct User Interviews with team members from logistics, support, and management to gather insights on pain points and daily usage requirements. and Reviewed the existing tool’s UI and UX to pinpoint barriers in user journeys and inefficiencies in layout and navigation.
Observations & Wireframes
We started with low-fidelity sketches to map out simplified navigation flows and an intuitive interface. Key iterations included:
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A dedicated “Live Tracking” tab to reduce cognitive load.
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Quick-access route planning with real-time updates.
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Visual hierarchy improvements for schedule readability.
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A service alert system to notify users of delays and changes.
I began designing the " Onboarding process" by creating a user flow for the feature. After establishing a flow, I created low-fidelity sketches of each page and then, from these sketches, transformed them into low-fidelity wireframes using Figma. After creating my own designs, I collaborated with other designers for feedback and ideation to create further iterations of the UI. Below are samples of the user-flow, lo-fi sketches, and wireframes.
Results
✅ 50% improvement in schedule accuracy – Users received reliable, real-time updates.
✅ 35% faster route discovery – Enhanced route planning made commuting easier.
✅ Higher adoption rates – More students and young adults relied on T-Map daily.
✅ Improved user satisfaction – Clearer navigation reduced frustration and improved engagement.
Key takeaways
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Real-Time Data is Key: Live updates significantly enhance user trust and engagement.
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User-Centered Navigation Wins: Simple, intuitive UI leads to better adoption.
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Efficient Route Planning Improves Commuting: Optimized routes reduce travel time and stress.