Millennials' Bus Experience
To understand how to make the Pittsburgh bus experience more enjoyable for Millennials
COURSE
User Research Methods
Carnegie Mellon
Fall 2014
TEAM
T.J. Berry
Caitlin Fisher
Stephen Krotseng
ROLE
Interviews
Persona
Co-design Activities
Millennials choose to live in ways that are
radically different from previous generations.
For example, car ownership is not important to them.
If the city of Pittsburgh plans to continue to acquire and retain young residents,
then the transportation system must reflect the
exciting, asset-light and urban lifestyle that Millennials are seeking.
78% Millennials Prefer to Spend Money on Experiences than Things
WHAT'S OUT THERE?
Port Authority
Bus Tracking Apps
Usability Test
Heuristics Analysis
Port Authority and Bus Tracking Apps Apps focus on the lack of transparency between predicted and actual bus arrival times.
Riders use products such as headphones and books, which are not designed specifically for bus riding.
Unrealiability, Hard to use, Get lost...
Is Bus Experience Frustrating?
HOWEVER, What people SAY?
Pilot
Revised
Interview
Results
All said
"Satisfied"
Categorize
Patterns
Active Alex
PERSONA
Passive Pat
Any gaps between What people say (i.e., satisfied) and what people really think, feel, and do (i.e., feeling guilty for standing next to someone) ?
Emotion Scale
Reposition
Using Tool box
Participatory Design
Personal Space & Comfort
Under particular personal space violation situation:
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How would the participant physically interacts with outside tools?
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What does the participant feel, and to what extreme, in each scenario?
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What does the participant think, using a think-aloud technique?
"It's so uncomfortable, that someone stand so close to you, just like this. I would turn my eyes away, and ..."
"Tool box is very useful, I like marked spots on the floorboard of the bus. It could serve as recommended spaces for standing when it’s crowded."
Transparency in scheduling, cohesively integrated with route maps. Users with no knowledge of the Port Authority system should be able to get information easily.
To increase comfort for riders, it would be helpful to have a pattern of standing places printed on the floor of the bus to give riders a place to stand that will help alleviate any social discomfort associated with being in someone’s personal space.
The designated standing spots could be placed strategically in a way that would promote standing riders to uniformly spread out throughout the bus. This would prevent standing riders from congregating in certain areas.