Challenge 1: Citymapper Mobile App

Hi! This is my first post in Medium and is about my first challenge for Ironhack’s Bootcamp Prework. In this task, I had to create a prototype for a future version of the app Citymapper.

Citymapper is a mobile app with the goal to assist its user navigate through the city by choosing the best public or private route. In this app the users enter a starting point and a destination and they get different transportation options.

A common problem that the users of the app face is that they do not know which of the route to choose as they get information only about the time but not any qualitative characteristics of it, e.g. regarding accessibility or traffic density. Another important pain point is that they have to navigate through different apps in order to purchase their tickets. Often they are not sure which ticket they have to buy, for instance normal or for a short distance.

From the interviews it’s getting clear that there is space for improvements that will respond to the question: How to help people choose the most convenient route and purchase the right ticket without having to navigate through different apps?

Taking into consideration the users’ concerns Citymapper decided to build a future app with the following aspects:

• It will provide qualitative characteristics of the route. These will include accessibility with wheelchair, passing through green areas, providing shopping possibilities, passing through areas with restaurants and cafes.
• After the user chooses the route its cost will be calculated by the app.
• The user will be able to purchase the ticket through the app.

This exercise was helpful in order to learn how to talk and listen to people in an interview and how to think of a solution as a response to their needs. The most difficult past was to differentiate the problem, the users’ needs, from the solution, the design part.