Role
UX researcher and designer
Context
MathWorks UX challenge
Duration
90-minute challenge
Status
90-minute UX research challenge, proposed direction
The problem
A transit planner designing a new subway line has to juggle four separate tools for population, traffic, cost and layout, with no way to compare plans side by side.
The outcome
One map that overlays population, traffic and cost, with a side-by-side view for comparing route plans.
4
separate tools juggled for one decision
Challenge brief
2 of 7
journey stages where planners struggle most: create and compare
Journey map
90
minutes, from brief to proposed design
UX challenge
Overview
A 90-minute UX research challenge from MathWorks, for transportation engineers who plan new routes in specialist mapping tools. The goal: understand where planning breaks down and propose a better way to make the decision.
The proposed tool: one map for every planning decision.
DISCOVER
Challenge
The current tool fights the planner in four ways: too many sources of information to track, too many variables to weigh at once, data spread across platforms instead of one map, and no way to compare different connection layouts.
The four ways the current tool fights the planner.
DEFINE
How might a planner see everything that matters for a route on one map, and compare plans side by side?
All four problems traced back to one root: the data needed for the decision never lives in one place.
DEVELOP
Approach
Three phases. Understand: the brief, a persona and a seven-stage journey from collecting data to sharing a plan. Define: the four pain points, and a focus on the two stages where the journey dips hardest, creating a solution and comparing solutions. Redesign: one integrated map, with the cramped comparison box dropped for a side-by-side compare view.
Understand, define, redesign: the challenge in three phases.
DELIVER
Result
One map with population, traffic and cost as layers, so the planner reads them together. A compare view puts plans next to each other with their cost broken down by stations, connections and length, so the better plan is visible at a glance.
The redesign: everything on one map.
Key takeaway
Fix the stages that hurt most. Two of seven steps carried most of the pain, so the redesign went there instead of touching everything.
Reflection
A proposed direction from a 90-minute challenge: no usability testing and no usage data. Next I’d test the compare view with working planners on a real route decision.
